Alvear, Carlos María de (1789–1852)

Carlos María de Alvear (b. 25 October 1789; d. 2 November 1852), Argentine soldier and politician. Alvear, born in Misiones, was the son of a Spanish naval officer and a creole mother. After service in the Peninsular War he returned to Buenos Aires in 1812 with José de San Martín and other patriots to play a leading role in the military and political organization of independence. As president of the Assembly of the Year XIII (1813), he influenced its policy in the direction of liberal reform. The capture of Montevideo from the Spanish in 1814 strengthened Alvear's military base, and he was appointed supreme director of the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata to restore stability to the revolutionary government. His tendency toward dictatorship and centralism caused his overthrow and exile after less than four months in office (April 1815).

Alvear subsequently changed political direction and joined forces with the Littoral caudillos in an attempt to overthrow the Buenos Aires government and establish a federal system. But the caudillos' success at Cepeda (1820) failed to secure him the governorship he desired. He was recalled to office by Bernardino Rivadavia and, while minister of war, fought a successful military campaign against Brazil at Ituazingó early in 1827. He retired to private life until Juan Manuel de Rosas appointed him minister to the United States in 1838. He died in New York.

See alsoRivadavia, Bernardino .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Thomas B. Davis, Jr., Carlos de Alvear: Man of Revolution (1955).

Tulio Halperín Donghi, Politics, Economics, and Society in Argentina in the Revolutionary Period (1975).

Additional Bibliography

Ocampo, Emilio. "Alvear, ¿traidor?: En defensa de un hombre público." Todo es Historia 443 (June 2004): 62-76.

Ocampo, Emilio. Alvear en la guerra con el imperio del Brasil. Buenos Aires: Claridad, 2003.

Pinedo, Enrique. Los relegados. Buenos Aires: Corregidor, 2000.

                                            John Lynch