Manuel Vicente Maza | |
|---|---|
 Maza portrayed byIgnacio Baz | |
| Governor of Buenos Aires Province | |
| In office 27 June 1834 – 7 March 1835 | |
| Preceded by | Juan José Viamonte |
| Succeeded by | Juan Manuel de Rosas |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1779 Buenos Aires,Argentina |
| Died | June 27, 1839 (aged 59–60) Buenos Aires,Argentina |
| Nationality |  Argentina |
| Political party | Federal |
| Spouse | Mercedes Fernandez Puelma Andrade |
| Children | Ramón Maza |
| Occupation | Lawyer |
Manuel Vicente Maza (1779 – June 27, 1839) was anArgentine lawyer andfederalpolitician. He was governor of Buenos Aires, and was killed after the discovery of a failed plot to killJuan Manuel de Rosas.
Even though Maza was born inBuenos Aires, he finished his university studies in Law at the Royal University of San Felipe, inSantiago,Chile.
As the independence movement fromSpain grew inSouth America, Maza was taken prisoner inLima, by that time the centre of theViceroyalty of Peru, and later spent time in reclusion in Buenos Aires, released in 1815. That year he started his political activity as head of the Civil Commission of Justice of Buenos Aires, bringing about the justice administration regulation named after him. In 1816 he served as mayor at theBuenos Aires Cabildo.In the following years he developed a friendship and political relationship withJuan Manuel de Rosas.
During the 1820s Maza became widely involved in political activity. He was sent to exile for the first time in 1823 because of his participation in the uprising againstMartín Rodríguez, and then again in 1829 toBahía Blanca for rising up againstJuan Lavalle.
When Rosas returned to power, Maza assumed an important role in Rosas' government. At the meeting withJosé María Paz inCórdoba, Maza accompanied Rosas, when they suffered an assassination attempt.
After Rosas left to the frontier in 1832, Maza was named Chief Minister byJuan Ramón Balcarce, but a year later he took part in the movement that demanded Balcarce's resignation. He also took part in the following brief administration ofJuan José Viamonte.
In 1834, and after several potential candidates refused to take the government of theBuenos Aires Province, Maza, as president of the legislature, was designated interim governor. In February 1835 he sentFacundo Quiroga as mediator in the conflict between the governors of theprovinces ofSalta andTucumán. As Quiroga was assassinated on his way back to Buenos Aires, Maza was forced to resign on March 7; Rosas once again became governor on April 13.
Maza went back to the legislature in spite of the growing confrontations with Rosas that started during Maza's term in the government. He was also designated as judge in the trial to the Reinafé brothers, accused of Quiroga's assassination.
In June 1839 Maza's son, coronelRamón Maza, was taken prisoner, suspected of a conspiracy against Rosas.
During theFrench blockade of the Río de la Plata,Juan Lavalle organized an army in Uruguay, attempting to attack Buenos Aires. His plans were supported by conspiracies in Buenos Aires by former member of the May Association. The most notable member of the conspiracy was Ramón Maza, son of the former governor Manuel Vicente Maza, who got military support. As Lavalle was delaying, they developed a new plan: Pedro Castelli and Nicolás Granada would make a revolt at Tapalqué, while the military in the city killed Rosas, Manuel Maza assumed government and allowed Lavalle to take the city.[1]
The plot was discovered by theMazorca, a security agency of Rosas, but the latter thought that Manuel Maza was innocent and carried the plots of his son, so he urged him to leave the country. He could not: Martínez Fontes, one of the military talked into the complot, revealed it in public. Popular commotion was high, and the people took the streets demanding the execution of the people involved with the complot. Ramón Maza was executed, and his father was killed in his office by the Mazorca. Nevertheless, Pedro Castelli attempted to make a rebellion in the countryside. The people did not follow him, and he was executed as well.
| Political offices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Governor of Buenos Aires Province 1834–1835 | Succeeded by |
