carlota joaquina, sister of ferdinand vii, was the wife of the portuguese prince regent. as she avoided the capture of the spanish royal family, she attempted to take charge of the spanish viceroyalties as regent. this political project, known as carlotism, was begun in hopes of preventing a french invasion of the americas. a small secret society of criollos, composed of politicians such as manuel belgrano and juan josé castelli, and military as antonio beruti and hipólito vieytes, supported this project. they considered it an opportunity to get a local government instead of a european one, or a step towards a potential declaration of independence. the project was resisted by viceroy liniers, most peninsulars, and some criollos, including mariano moreno, juan josé paso, and cornelio saavedra. they suspected that it concealed portuguese expansionist ambitions over the region. the supporters of carlota joaquina intended her to head a constitutional monarchy, whereas she wanted to govern an absolute monarchy; these conflicting goals undermined the project and caused it to fail. britain, which had a strong influence in the politics of the portuguese empire, opposed the project as well: they wanted to prevent spain from splitting into many kingdoms, and considered carlota joaquina unable to prevent this.