Republic of Tucumán

The Republic of Tucumán was a short-lived state centred on San Miguel de Tucumán in present-day Argentina. It was formed in 1820 after the collapse of central authority in the United Provinces of the Río de la Plata following the battle of Cepeda. The province's governor, Bernabé Aráoz, proclaimed the republic in March 1820, and it claimed the former Intendencia de Salta del Tucumán, including Tucumán, Santiago del Estero and Catamarca. Santiago del Estero resisted Tucumán's authority, and its separatists under Juan Francisco Borges sought independence. The republic remained formally a political unit within the United Provinces, but acted as an autonomous entity with its own constitution and army. It broke up the next year: a treaty signed on 5 June 1821 recognized Santiago del Estero's autonomy, and Aráoz was overthrown. He attempted a comeback in 1824 but was captured and executed. The episode illustrates the fragmentation of the Río de la Plata into provincial states during the 1820s.