As the subtitle indicates, the authors try to show the extent to which British imperial tentacles reached out to clutch the mineral resources of even the remotest interior of Latin America, specifically, the mines of Famatina in the Province of La Rioja. The main point is that Facundo Quiroga, caudillo of La Rioja in the mid-1820s, tried to preserve the rights of mineral exploitation to the mines of Famatina for the Argentines themselves (especially the people of La Rioja), while Bernardino Rivadavia, on behalf of his own interests and those of the porteño leadership, tried to sell out the rights to a group of British capitalists. Quiroga is thus the good guy and Rivadavia a villain—the former a protector of the nation’s true interests and a defender of the people, the latter a vendepatria. The rebellion of Quiroga against the leadership of Buenos Aires is viewed by the authors as not only justified, but heroic. The caudillo was merely seeking to insure that the mines would remain in local hands.
There is no doubt in my mind that Rivadavia was involved in a deal of questionable benefit to the nation. I am less convinced by the evidence presented (or by its interpretation) that Quiroga is a hero. The authors suggest that the caudillo had the interests of the masses of La Rioja very much in mind in his struggle against the porteño British axis. In fact, as they admit, Quiroga himself had obtained a financial interest in the mines, a consideration which intensified his defense of provincial interests. And while he did argue in passing at one point that the Riojanos should work the mines (thus providing local employment), the authors need more evidence to conclude that Quiroga was the people ’s champion.
Finally, I am left a little unclear as to just how evil the British were. At the beginning of the book, the authors say that the attempt to gain control of the mines of Famatina was just part of a much larger process related to industrial development. But there are too many passages in the book which make it appear that the events were plotted in the offices of Rivadavia, George Canning, and a few bankers who prosecuted their nefarious plans so that Britain might gain control, not only of the mines, but also of the people, the land, the animals, the money and the honor of the entire patria.
Despite these observations, this is a sound monograph, because it includes footnotes and useful bibliographical suggestions, because the authors have added 370 pages of documents relative to the story, and because they have shown how La Rioja felt the powerful pressures of industrializing England and commercial Buenos Aires.