| José Rivera Indarte | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1814 Córdoba, Argentina |
| Died | 1845 Santa Catarina |
| Occupation | Journalist, poet |
| Language | Spanish |
| Nationality | Argentina |
José Rivera Indarte (Córdoba, 1814 - Santa Catarina, 1845) was an Argentine poet and journalist. He has been both a supporter and critic of Juan Manuel de Rosas, writing first the "Anthem of the restorers" and later the "Blood tables".
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Indarte studied in Buenos Aires, and developed a taste for poetry. He later moved to Montevideo, where he wrote the newspaper "El Investigador" (English: The Investigator). He was removed from the city by the president Fructuoso Rivera, at a request from his minister Manuel Oribe. He returned to Buenos Aires after this. While being in the city, he joined the federalist party and wrote a small piece of poetry comparing Rozas with an ear of corn ("Mazorca" in Spanish) because of his blond hair. The members of the Popular Restoring Society would take the name "Mazorca" as a distinctive name. He also wrote the "Anthem of the restorers" for Rosas; Rosas was then known as the "Restorer of laws".
In 1837, Indarte started to be monitored by the Popular Restoring Society, and left the country. Unitarians state that he escaped from Rosas' political persecution, Federals consider that he had committed acts of fraud and falsification. He stayed some months in Europe, and then moved back to Montevideo. He supported Juan Lavalle, and urged him to join the Fench armies that were attacking the Confederation by that time.
In 1841 Rosas survived a terrorist attack made with a gift that secretly contained a complex mechanism of guns, which would fire at all directions when opened. The mechanism failed and did not fire, and Indarte ws accused of being responsible of it.
In 1843 the French firm Lafone & Co. hired Indarte for writing an account of deaths caused in Argentina by the government of Rosas, which was known as the Blood tables. The deal specified that he would be paid with a penny for each death listed. The list included deaths caused by military actions of the unitarians (including Lavalle's invasion of Buenos Aires), soldiers shot during wartime because of mutiny, treason or espionage, victims of common crimes and even people that was still alive. He also listed NN deaths (unidentified people), and some entries were repeated more than once. He also blamed him for the death of Facundo Quiroga. With all this, Indarte listed 480 deaths, and was paid with two Pound sterling (U$S 8.400 in modern prices). He tried to add to the list 22.560 deaths, the number of deaths caused by military conflicts in Argentina from 1829 to that date, but the French refused to pay for them.
He died in Brazil in 1845.