Random Article Summary #115

The Intendancy of Paraguay, also called the Intendancy of Asunción, was an administrative and territorial division within the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. It was established on 28 January 1782. The intendancy functioned as a regional government area during the Spanish colonial period. Its authority lasted until the May 1811 Revolution. After that revolution, the intendancy came to an end. Before 1776, much of southern Spanish America was governed from Lima by the Viceroy of Peru. In 1776, Peru was split and a new Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata was created, and later, on 28 January 1782, the Intendancy of Paraguay was formed as a subdivision covering the territory of the old Governorate of Paraguay. It lasted until 1811, when the last Intendant governor was overthrown, ending Spanish rule and starting the move toward Paraguay’s independence. The Intendant Governors of Paraguay during this period were Pedro Melo de Portugal (serving since before 1782), followed by Joaquín Alós y Brú, Lázaro de Ribera y Espinoza, and Bernardo de Velasco. After Velasco’s first term, Manuel Gutiérrez Varona and Eustaquio Giannini served as acting governors, and later Bernardo de Velasco returned for a second term from 1809 to 1811.