En defensa de la autoridad: Politica y cultura bajo el gobierno del virrey Abascal, Peru 1806-1816 (review)

This collection of four previously published articles, complemented with a brief introduction and conclusion, focuses on some of the political and cultural confrontations that occurred during the late colonial rule of Peruvian viceroy José Fernando de Abascal y Sousa. His term of office corresponded with the early-nineteenth-century crises that challenged the Spanish imperial structure and prompted the colonies to experiment with various forms of self-rule to fill the interregnum. Of particular importance to this work is the rise of liberalism and the move toward constitutional monarchy in Spain. These changes produced new complexities in the colonial relationship and demanded a response from overseas. As others have argued and Peralta reiterates, Abascal proved remarkably adept at coping with these demands and challenges. While Abascal's years as viceroy are the centerpiece of the book, it constitutes neither an examination of him nor of the viceroyalty. Rather, it looks at a few of the cultural and political developments of this period, while pushing the chronological framework both forward and back to indicate the roots of the issues, as well as their outcomes. The four main chapters examine specific cultural and political elements: education, libraries, the freedom of the press and censorship, the Inquisition, the effects of the 1812 constitution on the cabildo of Lima, and the relationship between the cabildo of Cusco and the 1814 Angulo rebellion. Peralta explains the continuing loyalty of Peru, despite the divisions created in response to the 1812 constitution. Indeed, the real issue among Peruvian creoles at the time was not independence, or even autonomy within the empire, but, rather, the extent to which liberalism would be implemented.

Facing them was Abascal, a man who has been described as a vital figure in protecting Spanish interests in Peru and transforming it into a royalist bulwark, who then used it to challenge the attempts at creole self-rule in the neighboring regions. But the liberal thrust placed him in a difficult situation. A committed absolutist, he was determined to protect the American colonies for his imprisoned king. However, his absolutism was less than total, which may help to explain his effectiveness. In some areas he displayed an enlightened side, permitting change as long as it presented no threat to Spanish rule. One such area was education and the spread of knowledge. A by-product was a willingness to grant freedom of the press, although only if newspapers criticized the French and remained faithful to the king. He was also prepared to carry out instructions to terminate the office of the Inquisition, seeing it as a means to ensure loyalty among the locals, whose attitude was evident in their violent attack upon the Inquisition's headquarters in Lima. But his absolutism found him less pliable in other areas. He was suspicious of local liberals. When he was instructed to hold elections for cabildo positions and Cortes delegates, he sought to ensure that his choices were named, though he could not prevent the elections altogether. Locals, who were trying to take advantage of this constitutionalist thrust to wrest control from the Spaniards, responded by accusing Abascal of authoritarianism—a symbol of all the repressive aspects of the colonial past. Unfazed by the criticism, he continued his efforts to maintain control in Peru and to confront the spreading violence in the surrounding regions.

The restoration of Ferdinand VII and the scuttling of the liberal constitution put Abascal and absolutism back in the driver's seat, with apparently little to show for the various debates and confrontations. However, Peralta's research indicates that the situation had changed substantially. Even in this area—where independence had not been an issue and where so-called revolutionaries like Angulo were motivated by a desire to return to the Habsburg past and not an enlightened future—the imperial relationship had been seriously...