José Fructuoso Rivera y Toscana was an Uruguayan general and patriot who fought for the liberation of Banda Oriental from Brazilian rule, thrice served as President of Uruguay and was one of the instigators of the long Uruguayan Civil War. He is also considered to be the founder of the Colorado Party, which ruled Uruguay without interruption from 1865 until 1958. He made a controversial decision to almost completely eliminate the native Charrúa during the 1831 Massacre of Salsipuedes.
Fructuoso Rivera
Rivera's statue in Montevideo
Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast. It is part of the Southern Cone region of South America. Uruguay covers an area of approximately 176,215 square kilometres (68,037 sq mi) and has a population of around 3.4 million, of whom nearly 2 million live in the metropolitan area of its capital and largest city, Montevideo.
Monument to the last four Charrúa, the indigenous people of Uruguay
The Portuguese established Colonia do Sacramento in 1680.
The oath of the Thirty-Three Orientals in 1825 prior to the beginning of the Cisplatine War, in which Uruguay gained independence from the Empire of Brazil
Manuel Oribe served as President of Uruguay and led the Blancos in the Civil War.