José Gervasio Artigas Artigas, José Gervasio (hōsāˈ hārväˈsyō
ärtēˈgäs) [key], 1764–1850, national hero of Uruguay, first
leader in the movement toward independence. He came from the
cattle-raising region Banda Oriental. He joined the revolution
against Spain in 1811 and became the leader of the Orientales.
In 1813 he instructed the delegates from the Banda Oriental to
the Buenos Aires constituent assembly to work for a federation
of autonomous La Plata provinces, but they were denied admission
to the assembly by the centralist military junta. Artigas then
championed Uruguayan independence. After an initial setback in
1813 by Buenos Aires and subsequently the restoration of Spanish
power (1816), he still managed to rule much of the territory as
protector against Spain, Brazil, and Buenos Aires. Finally in
1820, when Artigas had once again renounced the United Provinces
of La Plata (Argentina), the Portuguese captured the territory
and annexed it to Brazil. Artigas spent his remaining years in
exile in Paragua