Argentina WI: Álzaga's mutiny succeeded?

[Vinization]

Martín de Álzaga was a Spanish merchant of Basque origin who migrated to Buenos Aires at a young age, gaining both wealth and political power as the years went by. He was, together with Santiago de Liniers, one of the main leaders of the resistance against the British invasions of the River Plate, and while Liniers became viceroy following an unprecedented decision by the Audiencia of Buenos Aires, Álzaga became mayor of Buenos Aires.

Relations between the two men soured as time went by, and on January 1 1809 Álzaga tried to depose Liniers from the viceroyalty and create a junta, a measure that had already happened in Montevideo under the watch of local governor Francisco Javier de Elío. According to the Wikipedia article on the mutiny, Liniers came close to resigning before troops loyal to him dispersed the rebels.

So, what if Álzaga succeeded in his plan, and a junta was established in Buenos Aires? From what I've read so far, the uprising is seen as either an early cry of independence, or an attempt by local peninsulares to maintain their privileges in the face of a changing political and economic landscape.

@minifidel

 

[Taunay]

Never heard about that, very interesting

 

[Tupolev0247]

Depending on where your loyalist is. If he is loyal to Spain, I think it could mean a hard blow for the independentists since Saavedra along with other military leaders of the Patrician Corps would be executed or stripped of their posts, but if he is an independentist the revolution would try more to quell royalist uprisings and repel the armies from Peru.

 

[minifidel]

Depending on where your loyalist is. If he is loyal to Spain, I think it could mean a hard blow for the independentists since Saavedra along with other military leaders of the Patrician Corps would be executed or stripped of their posts, but if he is an independentist the revolution would try more to quell royalist uprisings and repel the armies from Peru.

It requires Saavedra's support to succeed: the single biggest difference between the 1809 mutiny and the 1810 Revolution is that by 1810 even Cornelio Saavedra and his Regimiento de Patricios had swayed towards the idea of forming a Junta.

A Junta led by Álzaga and his mutineers has a very interesting ramification very early on in the process: it represents a Peninsulares-lead revolution, yes, but it also involved some of the prominent Criollo patriots that would be instrumental in 1810 (Manuel Belgrano and Mariano Moreno chief among them). Whether or not it leads to independence is of considerably less relevance out the gate: it was not declared until 1816 IOTL, and the debate is moot while Joseph sits the throne.