Background
Aparicio Saravia was born on 16 August 1855 in Cerro Largo. His father was Brazilian, and he spent much of his life in that country.
Aparicio Saravia was born on 16 August 1855 in Cerro Largo. His father was Brazilian, and he spent much of his life in that country.
He participated in the federalist revolution in the state of Rio Grande do Sul between 1893 and 1895.
In Uruguay, Saravia was affiliated with the Blanco Party, and upon returning there, he led a short uprising against President Juan Idiarte Borda’s Colorado party regime in November 1896. Four months later, Saravia led a more serious revolt which at first was successful. After President Idiarte Borda was assassinated in August, his successor, President Juan Lindolfo Cuestas, agreed to a settlement that gave the Blancos control of six of the country’s nineteen departments, provided for a guaranteed Blanco minority representation in Congress, pardoned all those participating in the uprising, and gave financial “compensation” to the rebels for their expenses in undertaking the revolt.
Saravia “retired” to his rural estate but threw his political support to the Cuestas regime. At the time of the 1903 presidential election, he indicated his opposition to Colorado candidate José Batllc y Ordonez but did not specifically support any opponent to Batlle. Saravia’s antipathy to Batlle intensified when the new president named several Blancos who were not supporters of Saravia as “jefes politicos” of Blanco-controlled departments. Although a revolt led by Saravia was narrowly averted in March 1903, a fulls scale insurrection broke out in the following year under Saravia’s leadership. His death in battle in September 1904 ended the last Uruguayan civil war of the twentieth century and paved the way for the democratic regime that prevailed in that country during most of the twentieth century.
