Bolivian War of Independence - The republiquetas

The republiquetas

From 1810 to 1824, the idea of independence was kept alive by six guerrilla bands that formed in the backcountry of Upper Peru. The areas they controlled are called republiquetas ("petty republics") in the historiography of Bolivia. The republiquetas were located in the Lake Titicaca region, Mizque, Vallegrande, Ayopaya, the countryside around Sucre, the southern region near today's Argentina and Santa Cruz de la Sierra. The republiquetas were led by caudillos whose power was based on their personality and ability to win military engagements. This allowed them to create quasi-states which attracted varied followers, ranging from political exiles of the main urban centers to cattle rustlers and other fringe members of Criollo and Mestizo society. These Criollo and Mestizo republiquetas often allied themselves with the local Indian communities, although it was not always possible to keep the Natives' loyalty, since their own material and political interests often eclipsed the idea of regional independence. Ultimately the republiquetas never had the size nor organization to actually bring about the independence of Upper Peru, but instead maintained a fifteen-year stalemate with royalist regions, while holding off attempts by Buenos Aires to control the area.

The areas of Upper Peru which remained under royalist control elected a representative to the Spanish Cortes, Mariano Rodríguez Olmedo, who served from May 4, 1813, to May 5, 1814. Rodríguez Olmedo was a conservative representative, signing the 1814 request, known as the "Manifesto of the Persians" ("Manifiesto de los Persas"), by seventy Cortes delegates to Ferdinand VII to repeal the Spanish Constitution of 1812.