Bernardino de la Trinidad González Rivadavia (May 20, 1780 – September 2, 1845) was the first President of Argentina, then called the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, from February 8, 1826 to June 27, 1827.

He was educated at the Royal College of San Carlos, but left without finishing his studies. During the British Invasions he served as Third Lieutenant of the Galicia Volunteers. He participated in the open Cabildo on May 22, 1810 voting for the deposition of the viceroy. He had a strong influence on the First Triumvirate and shortly after he served as Minister of Government and Foreign Affairs of the Province of Buenos Aires.

Although there was a General Congress intended to draft a constitution, the beginning of the War with Brazil led to the immediate establishment of the office of President of Argentina; with Rivadavia being the first to be named to the post. Argentina's Constitution of 1826 was promulgated later, but was rejected by the provinces. Strongly contested by his political party, Rivadavia resigned and was succeeded by Vicente López y Planes.

Rivadavia retired to Spain, where he died in 1845. His remains were repatriated to Argentina in 1857, receiving honors as Captain General. His remains are in a mausoleum in Plaza Miserere, adjacent to Rivadavia Avenue, named after him.

Biography

Early life

Rivadavia was born in Buenos Aires on May 20, 1780, the fourth son of Benito Bernardino González de Rivadavia, a wealthy Spanish lawyer, and his first wife, María Josefa de Jesús Rodríguez de Rivadeneyra. Both parents were born in the Galician town of Monforte de Lemos. Because of his dark appearance it has been alleged Rivadavia had African ancestry. On December 14, 1809, Bernardino Rivadavia married Juana del Pino y Vera Mujica, daughter of the viceroy of the Río de la Plata, Joaquín del Pino and his second wife, the vicereine Rafaela Francisca de Vera Mujica y López Pintado. His military appointment was rejected by Mariano Moreno.

Career

Rivadavia was active in both the Argentine resistance to the British invasion of 1806 and in the May Revolution movement for Argentine Independence in 1810. In 1811, Rivadavia became the dominant member of the governing triumvirate as Secretary of the Treasury and Secretary of War. Until its fall in October 1812, this government focused on creating a strong central government, moderating relations with Spain, and organizing an army.

By 1814 the Spanish King Ferdinand VII had returned to the throne and started the Absolutist Restoration, which had grave consequences for the governments in the Americas. Manuel Belgrano and Rivadavia were sent to Europe to seek support for the United Provinces from both Spain and Britain. They sought to promote the crowning of Francisco de Paula, son of Charles IV of Spain, as regent of the United Provinces, but in the end he refused to act against the interests of the King of Spain. The diplomatic mission was a failure, both in Spain and in Britain. He visited France as well, and returned to Buenos Aires in 1821, at their friends' request.

During his stay in Britain, Rivadavia saw the growing development of the Industrial Revolution, and the rise of Romanticism. He sought to promote a similar development in Buenos Aires, and invited many people to move to the city. He convinced Aimé Bonpland to visit the country, but few other invitations were accepted.

In June 1821, he was named minister of government to Buenos Aires by governor Martín Rodríguez. Over the next five years, he exerted a strong influence, and focused heavily on improving the city of Buenos Aires, often at the expense of greater Argentina. To make the former look more European, Rivadavia constructed large avenues, schools, paved and lighted streets. He founded the University of Buenos Aires, as well as the Theatre, Geology, and Medicine Academies and the continent's first museum of natural science.

He persuaded the legislature to authorize a one-million pound loan for public works that were never undertaken. The provincial bonds were sold in London through the Baring Brothers Bank, local and Buenos Aires-based British traders also acting as financial intermediaries. The borrowed money was in turn lent to these businessmen, who never repaid it. Of the original million pounds the Buenos Aires government received only £552,700. The province's foreign debt was transferred to the nation in 1825, its final repayment being made in 1904.

A strong supporter of a powerful, centralized government in Argentina, Rivadavia often faced violent resistance from the opposition federalists. In 1826, Rivadavia was elected the first President of Argentina. During his term he founded many museums, and expanded the national library.

Presidency (1826–1827) <span class="anchor" id="Presidency"></span>

thumb|250px|Bust of Bernardino Rivadavia in the city of [[América, Buenos Aires|América, Buenos Aires Province.]]

Overview

His government had many problems, primarily an ongoing war with Brazil over territory in modern Uruguay and resistance from provincial authorities. Faced with the rising power of the Federalist Party and with several provinces in open revolt, Rivadavia submitted his resignation on June 27, 1827. He was succeeded by Vicente López y Planes. At first he returned to private life, but fled to exile in Europe in 1829.

The Capitalization Law

Immediately after assuming office, Rivadavia presented to Congress a project to make Buenos Aires the capital: the city and much of the surrounding countryside were proclaimed the capital of the state. A few days later he issued a decree ordering the demarcation of the capital of the republic, and of the province of Buenos Aires.

Economic policy

The Discount Bank of the province was transformed into the National Bank in 1826.

Rivadavia's administration coincided with an increase in British influence in national politics. Rivadavia's scheme was based on five pillars: completely free trade and no protectionism against British imports, finances with a central bank managed by British investors, absolute control of the port of Buenos Aires as the sole source of income for the country, British exploitation of natural resources, and centralized unitarism in Buenos Aires. Gold exports, allowed by free-trade policies, quickly depleted national reserves. This represented a major problem, since gold was the medium of exchange of the local economy. Rivadavia sought to solve this problem by establishing the Discount Bank, a central bank to print money. Despite the role played by the central bank, this institution was placed in the hands of private British investors.

Nationalization of resources

President Rivadavia ordered the immediate nationalization of Buenos Aires and its institutions, including the customs house.

The Consolidation of the Public Debt of the State law declared all public lands of the nation mortgaged and prohibited their sale without special permission from Congress. Lands that had previously been considered provincial were nationalized and were to be subject to the system of emphyteusis. During the brief government of Rivadavia, in 1827 the paper peso was devalued by 33% and again by 68% in 1829. Emphyteusis, despite its progressive character, resulted in a strong process of concentration of land ownership in Buenos Aires: a total of 138 owners obtained 18,656,000 hectares. The most favored emphyteutic tenants included many collaborators of Bernardino Rivadavia's own government, including the families Anchorena, Alvear, Ortiz Basualdo, Díaz Vélez, Escalada, Irigoyen, Lezica, Lynch, Miguens, Obarrio, Ocampo, Olivera, Vidal, and Sáenz Valiente, among others. Emphyteusis placed more than eight million hectares at the disposal of tenants and emphyteutic holders, who generally did not pay or paid very low rents to the province. This law tended to favor the great concentration of property in a few dozen families.

The Constitution of 1826

Under the pretext that the war with Brazil had been declared on 1 January 1826 and that a national government was necessary to direct and finance operations, in September of that year the Constitutional Affairs Commission presented a draft constitution based on the Constitution of 1819. After heated debates, forty-three deputies supported the project, while eleven opposed it. The constitution was enacted on 24 December 1826. The name United Provinces of South America was replaced by the Argentine Republic and a representative, republican, and unitary government was adopted.

Civil war in the interior

The reaction of the provinces was swift. From Córdoba, Juan Bautista Bustos led strong opposition to the new constitution and the presidential system. In La Rioja, Facundo Quiroga initially seemed favorable to Buenos Aires, but the civil war in the provinces of Catamarca and San Juan eventually placed him at the head of the federal forces. The rest of the provinces - Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, Mendoza, Santiago del Estero, San Luis and Salta - rejected the constitution but expressed their desire to continue the war with Brazil "without Congress or the president".

Loss of the Banda Oriental (Independence of Uruguay)

Rivadavia again turned to Manuel José García and sent him on a diplomatic mission to Brazil to begin negotiations for peace with the Empire. The reasons that led Rivadavia to change his position were the same that had earlier discouraged García from supporting the war, and here the important investigative work of Juan Carlos Nicolau should be noted:

On 16 April 1827, García received instructions from Rivadavia and his minister Francisco Fernández de la Cruz, informing him that the government intended to accelerate the end of the war. The bases that the plenipotentiary minister García was to use were:

In other words, President Rivadavia instructed the plenipotentiary minister García that peace with Brazil should be achieved either through recognition by the emperor of the Oriental Province as an integral part of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata, or, if that was not accepted, through the proclamation of the independence of the Oriental Province.

García arrived in May 1827 in Rio de Janeiro and began meetings with the British intermediary and Brazilian plenipotentiary ministers. At the outset of negotiations García encountered strong resistance from Brazilian ministers regarding any renunciation of the Cisplatine Province. Emperor Pedro I of Brazil had sworn before the Brazilian Senate not to negotiate peace with the United Provinces and to continue the war until they accepted his sovereignty over the Cisplatine Province.

Seeing the situation, García decided to return to Buenos Aires, but the British ambassador Robert Gordon persuaded him to meet with the imperial foreign minister, the Marquis of Queluz. After three fruitless meetings, pressure from the British government to end the conflict quickly in order to resume trade, the inflexible position of the Brazilian government, and the critical political and economic situation of the United Provinces led García to decide on peace on different terms. He later explained to Ambassador Gordon:

Thus, setting aside his instructions, on 24 May 1827 he signed the Preliminary Peace Convention of 1827, which provided, among other things:

Although this Preliminary Peace Convention contradicted his instructions, García managed to change the original wording that incorporated the Cisplatine Province into the Empire and omitted recognition of any Brazilian sovereignty over the Oriental Province, since the convention referred only to the renunciation made by the United Provinces. Perhaps without realizing it, Brazilian diplomats left the door open to Uruguayan independence.

Upon his return to Buenos Aires on 20 June 1827, García presented the Preliminary Peace Convention to President Rivadavia and the National Congress. The plan was rejected by the government of the United Provinces: Minister Agüero wrote García that:

Nevertheless, Rivadavia failed to save his government: despite his opposition to the convention, public opinion did not forgive his actions, and his involvement in mining negotiations in Famatina was simultaneously denounced in the press. On 26 June 1827, Rivadavia presented his irrevocable resignation from the presidency.

The consequences of the failed Preliminary Peace Convention signed by García remain controversial: some authors believe that the precedent of such an agreement influenced Governor Manuel Dorrego when signing the Preliminary Peace Convention of 1828, which provided for the independence of the "Province of Montevideo, now called Cisplatina". Others argue that García cannot be held responsible for the final treaty signed by Juan Ramón Balcarce and Tomás Guido, since the preliminary convention was never ratified by Congress and therefore did not bind the government of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata.

He was eventually deported to the Isla de Ratas as a prelude to a new exile with a stop in Santa Catarina. He later departed for Rio de Janeiro, where his wife died in 1841.

Bartolomé Mitre described Rivadavia as:

At present his remains are in a mausoleum located in the Plaza Miserere, in Buenos Aires, adjacent to Rivadavia Avenue, named in his honor.

Legacy

thumb|right|Rivadavia is portrayed on Argentina stamps since 1864.

Rivadavia is recognized as the first president of Argentina, even though his rule was accepted only in Buenos Aires, he did not complete a full mandate, there was no constitution for more than half of his rule, and did not start a presidential succession line. The chair of the President of Argentina is known as the "chair of Rivadavia", but only metaphorically: Rivadavia took everything when he left office, including the chair, which could never be retrieved.

Bibliography

References

  • Biography at El Historiador