Arroyo Asencio

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Arroyo Asencio

Arroyo Asencio, a small river in Uruguay near Mercedes, in the department of Soriano. Its importance derives from the fact that from its banks originated the famous Grito de Asencio (28 February 1811), which marked the beginning of the revolution in the Banda Oriental, the old name for what is known today as Uruguay. Outstanding in this event were Pedro Viera and Venancio Benavídes, inhabitants of the area who organized their neighbors into an uprising against the government of Montevideo. Although he was not present, the influence of the caudillo José Artigas, the future head of the revolution in the area, was significant.

See alsoGrito de Asencio .

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Brother Damasceno, Ensayo de historia patria, vol. 1 (1950).

John Street, Artigas and the Emancipation of Uruguay (1959).

Additional Bibliography

Rodríguez, Jaime E. The Independence of Spanish America. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1998.

                                 JosÉ de Torres Wilson