The Rosas Regime

Manuel Rosas dealt with enduring opposition during his government tenure. To his good fortune his opposition was fragmented and so his troubles were many nuisances instead of joint threats. The groups that opposed the Rosas government were Unitarians and reformists, landowners from the South, other provinces, and foreign powers. With so many enemies Rosas would have to deal with one at a time avoiding a union of his enemies, and he did so with overwhelming force. Rosas would keep his enemies in check using a policy of terror to "eliminate enemies, discipline dissidents, warn waverers, and ultimately control his own supporters" (Lynch, p.96) and his supreme powers.

Rosas saw his policy of terror as the best way to maintain law and order in his turbulent country. Even the terrorism fashioned by Rosas reflected his principles of law and order as it was carefully planned and strategic "terror was applied to people and groups carefully selected by the government" (Lynch, p.96) and "was not popular, spontaneous, or indiscriminant." (Lynch, p.96). The extent of these policies also reflects that state of fear