Burro, Bernardo Prudencio

Born in 1803 in Montevideo ( Viceroyalty of Rio de la Plata ); his father became a member of the Junta Montevideo in 1808, and when in 1828 a decision was made to create an independent state of Uruguay, in 1829 he became a member of the General Constitutional and Legislative Assembly , which drafted the Constitution of 1830 for the new country. .

In 1837-1838 he represented the Department of Maldonado in the House of Representatives. During the Civil War , after Manuel Oribe besieged Montevideo , from 1845 he became minister in his “government in Cerrito”; He was a member of the Supreme Court and one of the main figures in the administration.

At the end of 1851, an agreement was signed on the end of the civil war on the principle of "neither winners nor losers." Power over the country was transferred to the “government of defense” from Montevideo, which was headed by Senate President Joaquin Suarez . The country returned to constitutional order, and the presidential elections were to take place in the spring of 1852, but Joaquín Suárez did not reach this point a bit, and on February 15, 1852 he was forced to resign due to poor health, handing over his authority to Bernardo Berro. The presidential election was won by Juan Francisco Hiro , who took office on March 1, 1852.

Since Hiro was a close friend of Burro, Burro again became the Minister of Government responsible for foreign affairs, but on September 25, 1853, the government was overthrown as a result of the military coup carried out by Venancio Flores .

In 1860, Berro was elected president of the country, and remained in this post for a full term until 1864. He probably became the first president of Uruguay, who tried to increase the administrative efficiency of the administrative apparatus, but his measures were met with hostility by the opposition. In private, he, despite his origin, behaved very simply. He lived in Manga (about 15 km from the center of Montevideo) and personally cultivated the land, shocking the aristocracy, which did not consider such an occupation appropriate for members of its class.

The onset of peace in the country and agricultural reform, which gave the country a new export product - high-quality wool, caused a sharp increase in foreign trade during the presidency of Berro, which greatly improved the economic situation. This was also facilitated by the US civil war , which caused the cessation of American cotton supplies to Europe and freed European markets for Uruguayan wool.

The national party to which Berro belonged did not participate in the presidential election held in late 1867. On February 15, 1868, Venancio Flores, who dragged the country into the Paraguayan War, handed over the presidency to Senate President Pedro Varela , and on February 19, members of the National Party raised an anti-government uprising. 25 people under the command of Burro, shouting “Down with Brazil!” And “Long live the independent Uruguay and Paraguay!” Attacked the Government House; Varela and the Brazilian charge d'affaires fled through the back door.

Burro announced the victory of the revolution and the creation of a new government when he was informed that the “battalion of constitutionalists” was approaching. Now Burro and his comrades fled through the back door. They went to the coast, where in case of failure a boat should have been waiting for them, but something went wrong and they did not find the boat. Former President Flores and his comrades, armed, set off for the scene, but fell into a trap and were killed.

Burro was arrested and then killed in prison. His body was beheaded and dragged through the streets of Montevideo.

• Bernardo P. Berro
• Bernardo Prudencio Berro