Soberanía y castigo en Charcas. La represión militar y judicial de las Juntas de La Plata y La Paz (1808-1810)
Abstract
El artículo se pregunta por qué la monarquía española fue más severa en la represión de la Junta Tuitiva proclamada en La Paz que la Junta de La Plata, en 1809. La investigación disiente con el tópico historiográfico boliviano que reivindica las juntas como plenamente independentistas. Vistas más bien como una crisis de autoridad producida en diversos niveles, la autora analiza las nociones de autoridad y soberanía en el contexto colonial español, afirmando que las juntas respondían más bien a una lógica defensiva de la Península frente a la amenaza de Francia y Portugal; y que la represión de las mismas tenía el propósito de evitar una redistribución y dispersión de la soberanía real entre las instancias de autoridad charqueñas, así como apuntalar su propia legitimidad institucional. Consecuentemente, la represión de la Junta de La Plata fue más severa y efectiva que la de La Paz.
The article poses the question of why the Spanish monarchy reacted more severely in repressing the Revolutionary Junta (Junta Tuitiva) proclaimed in La Paz than against the Junta of La Plata, in 1809. This research digresses from the Bolivian historiographical repeated notion that presents juntas as completely of a pro-independence nature. Considering them instead as a crisis of authority which occurred in different spheres, the author analyzes the notions of authority and sovereignty in the Spanish Colonial context, stating that the Juntas responded rather to a rationale of defense on the part of Spain in face the threat of France and Portugal; and that their repression had the aim of avoiding a redistribution and dispersion of royal sovereignty among the bodies of authority of Charcas, as well as to support their own institutional legitimacy. Consequently, the repression of the Junta of La Paz was more severe and effective than the one against that of La Plata.
The article poses the question of why the Spanish monarchy reacted more severely in repressing the Revolutionary Junta (Junta Tuitiva) proclaimed in La Paz than against the Junta of La Plata, in 1809. This research digresses from the Bolivian historiographical repeated notion that presents juntas as completely of a pro-independence nature. Considering them instead as a crisis of authority which occurred in different spheres, the author analyzes the notions of authority and sovereignty in the Spanish Colonial context, stating that the Juntas responded rather to a rationale of defense on the part of Spain in face the threat of France and Portugal; and that their repression had the aim of avoiding a redistribution and dispersion of royal sovereignty among the bodies of authority of Charcas, as well as to support their own institutional legitimacy. Consequently, the repression of the Junta of La Paz was more severe and effective than the one against that of La Plata.
Description
Vol. 23, No. 42