Posted on 07/05/2021 12:45:18 PM PDT by CheshireTheCat
On this date in 1731, Jose de Antequera had his head cut off in Lima for leading a comunero rebellion against the Spanish crown in Paraguay.
Antequera, a judge, began his revolution legally in 1721 by affirming an impeachment the city council of Asuncion (Paraguay’s present-day capital) against the unpopular Spanish governor. Antequera, conveniently, also happened to be the guy who would succeed the unpopular territorial governor.
The conflict between the two would-be governors spiraled into a wider revolt for local autonomy pitting criollo settlers against the crown, though it would likely be overstating matters to call this a true bid for independence. One notable sore spot between the two parties was the prerogatives of Jesuit Reductions: these mission settlements for Christianizing natives (particularly prominent in Paraguay for the Guarani people) had originally been placed at the far fringes of Spain’s New World reach, and they enjoyed a wide autonomy, sustaining themselves economically with the yerba mate trade. For the Guarani, these were also welcome refuges from the brutal encomiendas; Guarani militias stoutly repelled slave raiders.
For these prerogatives, the Jesuits and the Guarani were loyal to the Spanish crown as against the local settlers better inclined to view the Reductions (and the potential slaves who inhabited them) as assets they’d like to get their own hands around. Antequera accordingly expelled the Jesuits near Asuncio and for a few years his word was law in Paraguay. Guarani troops mustered by the crown helped put the rebellion down, taking Antequera into custody and forwarding him to the notoriously severe Marquis of Castelfuerte, the Peruvian viceroy....
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Interesting. Tks for posting
** Paraguay bttp **
NP problem.
You don’t hear much about the history of Paraguay nowadays.
Check out the War of Triple Alliance (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paraguayan_War).
It’s why there is an entire administrative department with its capital, Villa Hayes, and a principle road in the capital named for “Presidente Hayes” (pronounced there as “Hah-jes”).
These days, pretty much same-old for the country: dependent on agriculture exports and smuggling into Brazil, while elites control everything.
Interesting.
It’s a wonder there aren’t TV series or documentaries made on these times and places.
There’$ an idea!
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