| A cabildo abierto summoned in Asunción by the intendant swore allegiance to Ferdinand VII. Paraguayans defeated Buenos Aires forces, which attempted to incorporate Paraguay into the United Provinces. Fulgencio Yegros, a military chief, led proindependence creoles to depose Spanish authorities. A congress of delegates created a governing junta, which included Yegros, as chief, and Dr. José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia (1766–1840), a creole lawyer of the cabildo. | 1 |
| PARAGUAY PROCLAIMED INDEPENDENCE FROM SPAIN. Dr. Francia withdrew from the junta, condemning the excessive influence of the military in government, but the junta and the cabildo called him back. Francia signed a treaty with Buenos Aires, which agreed to the principles of federation and free trade. Thus, Francia obtained a tacit recognition of Paraguay's independence and lower taxes for Paraguayan trade. Again, he retreated from the government to create a following for himself among small landowners, ranchers, and farmers, and a network of informers. | 2 |
