The Rosas Regime

Manuel Rosas dealt with enduring opposition during his government tenure. To his good fortune his opposition was fragmented and so his troubles were many nuisances instead of joint threats. The groups that opposed the Rosas government were Unitarians and reformists, landowners from the South, other provinces, and foreign powers. With so many enemies Rosas would have to deal with one at a time avoiding a union of his enemies, and he did so with overwhelming force. Rosas would keep his enemies in check using a policy of terror to "eliminate enemies, discipline dissidents, warn waverers, and ultimately control his own supporters" (Lynch, p.96) and his supreme powers.

Rosas saw his policy of terror as the best way to maintain law and order in his turbulent country. Even the terrorism fashioned by Rosas reflected his principles of law and order as it was carefully planned and strategic "terror was applied to people and groups carefully selected by the government" (Lynch, p.96) and "was not popular, spontaneous, or indiscriminant." (Lynch, p.96). The extent of these policies also reflects that state of fear Rosas himself lived in. He knew he was hated by many and "lived in personal anticipation of danger" (Lynch, p.96) and so it is no surprise that he demanded absolute allegiance and submissiveness from his regime.

Rosas used a special tool that executed his policy of terror. This tool was a secret special task force which was very closely affiliated with the Rosas government and was called The Mazorca. The Mazorca was the muscle of the Sociedad Popular Restaurador, an organization made during the fight against the federal dissidents in 1832-1833; its leaders were on the states payroll and were used to intimidate political adversaries. "It institutionalized terror and controlled violence, thus avoiding the things most abhorrent to RosasÐ'--anarchy, mob rule, and personal vendetta." (Lynch, p.100)

The Sociedad Popular Restaurador was split into two factions the society; the brain, and the Mazorca; the arm. The former was made up of society's elite and the latter of the lower classes. Many members of the upper class joined for fear that if they didn't they would branded an enemy. Even more they had spies, agents, and informers making it difficult to do anything but show full support or fear of persecution. This was demonstrated in police reports stating "he has not given any service to the Federation and dresses like a Unitarian" (Lynch, p.101) and that even the assembly was terrorized by the Mazorca.

Enemies of the Rosas government were as good as dead; at the peak of the terror headless bodies were found every morning in Buenos Aires as demonstrations to the public. "Degollar, degollador, these were among the commonest words used in the vocabulary of rosismo, used with depraved pleasure by ruler and follower alike" (Lynch, p.99). Absolute submission was enforced by the Mazorca, because even though they were controlled by Rosas he could not prevent every killing. He himself was well aware of these but to him they were not going against him rather doing work above and beyond. Further "he believed that he could not govern without the mazorca" (Lynch, p.102) and so allowed a measure of leniency as to not alienate his followers. Rosas didn't leave all the control measures to his infantry of terror he also used his supreme powers to circumvent