Background
Juan Antonio Lavalleja was born in Minas on 24 June 1784. His parents were wealthy Spanish ranchers.
Juan Antonio Lavalleja was born in Minas on 24 June 1784. His parents were wealthy Spanish ranchers.
Lavalleja was provisional president of Uruguay in 1830 but did not succeed in being elected the first constitutional president. In 1832 and 1835 he led revolts against President Fructuoso Rivera, and in 1836 he supported President Manuel Oribe when Rivera revolted against him.
When Oribe was defeated, Lavalleja took part in an Argentine invasion and was blamed for its defeat. Although long a leader of the Blanco Party, he was a member of a triumvirate that took power with Brazilian support in 1853, after the ouster of the Blanco government of President Juan Francisco Giró. Lavalleja died while in that post.
He was a supporter of José Gervásio Artigas in conflicts with both the Argentines and the Portuguese-Brazilians. In 1825, he led a group of Uruguayans, “the immortal thirty-three." who invaded Brazilian-held Uruguay, seeking to obtain its independence. In the resulting war between Argentina and Brazil in 1825-1828, he was the principal leader of Uruguayan forces, and in 1827-1828 he established his own dictatorship.
