15 Facts About Facundo Quiroga

Juan Facundo Quiroga was an Argentine caudillo who supported federalism at the time when the country was still in formation.

Facundo Quiroga travelled to San Luis to enter the Granaderos a Caballo Regiment, led by General Jose de San Martin.

Facundo Quiroga was imprisoned and eventually expelled due to his bad temper.

Facundo Quiroga moved back to La Rioja and became a businessman until 1820.

Facundo Quiroga entered the provincial army and quickly rose to its command, gaining control of the government through his charisma.

Facundo Quiroga overthrew the centralist governor of San Juan shortly after the central government signed a series of treatises with Great Britain by which religious freedom was enforced and La Rioja mines were given in usufruct to British enterprises.

Facundo Quiroga tried to oppose them, but without success, and after defeat in the Battle of La Tablada, he went into self-imposed exile in Buenos Aires.

Facundo Quiroga took his campaign north along the Andean provinces, until he finally defeated General Gregorio Araoz de Lamadrid, who led the last remaining unitary forces, in Salta.

For most of the first years as a powerful caudillo, Facundo Quiroga had very little to say about his own personal religion, hoping to stay out of the conflict over control of the masses between Catholicism and the emerging Argentine government.

In 1834, Facundo Quiroga was appointed by the governor of Buenos Aires Manuel Vicente Maza to mediate between the governors of Tucuman and Salta, but Salta governor De la Torre died before Facundo Quiroga could arrive.

Facundo Quiroga was advised that there were plans to murder him on his way back, but Quiroga, disregarding the advice, returned to Buenos Aires through the same way.

The leader of the party, Santos Perez did not take chances and killed Facundo Quiroga by shooting him through the left eye.

Sarmiento's Facundo Quiroga was expanded upon in a book titled Children of Facundo Quiroga: Caudillo and Gaucho Insurgency During the Argentine State-Formation Process, written by Ariel de la Fuente.

Children of Facundo Quiroga further depicts Facundo Quiroga as a complex leader.

Facundo Quiroga is buried in La Recoleta Cemetery in Buenos Aires.