Mariano Vera

Who is Mariano Vera?

Mariano Vera was a caudillo and governor of the province of Santa Fe, Argentina, between 12 April 1816 and 23 July 1818.

Vera was a supporter of federalism, against the idea of a centralized government. After the proclamation of the first national government junta, in 1810, Santa Fe was ruled by lieutenant governors sent from the capital Buenos Aires, which did not sit well with many local citizens and worked to increase the influence of the federalist leader José Gervasio Artigas, based on the Eastern Bank. The Supreme Directorship invaded Santa Fe in March 1815; the next month Artigas liberated it and set up Francisco Antonio Candioti as governor. Candioti was in turn ousted and replaced by the centralist Juan Francisco Tarragona.

Vera and other political leaders, notably Estanislao López, gathered the support of Candioti's followers, and rebelled in March 1816, helped by Artigas's troops coming via Paraná, Entre Ríos. Buenos Aires's occupation forces under Juan José Viamonte were defeated, and Mariano Vera was elected governor of Santa Fe.