HISTORICAL DICTIONARY OF ARGENTINA

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP08C01297R000800080003-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: September 17, 2012
• Sequence Number: 3
• Publication Date: January 1, 1978
• Content Type: MISC

Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/17: CIA-RDPO8001297R000800080003-5
Historical Dictionary
of
ARGENTINA/
by A
Ione SQVright
an
Lisa M. Nekhom
Latin American Historical Dictionaries, No. 17
The Scarecrow Scarecrow Press, Inc.
Metuchen, N.J. & London
1978
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/17: CIA-RDPO8001297R000800080003-5
Declassified and Approved For Release 2012/09/17: CIA-RDPO8001297R000800080003-5
Marmol 528
Following the fall of Rosas, Marrnol returned to Buenos
Aires, completing the first Argentine novel, Arnalia (q. v.) con-
tributing to various journals, etc.; he also became deeply in-
volved with political affairs; after a diplomatic appointment to
Chile and Bolivia that he accepted from Urquiza fell through,
Marmol joined Mitre and the other porteilo leaders who were
determined to keep Buenos Aires out of the confederation be-
ing formed by the other provinces under Urquiza; served in
Buenos Aires senate and on commission to revise 1853 consti-
tution so that Buenos Aires could accept it and the republic
could be unified; was sent by President Mitre to Brazil on del-
icate diplomatic mission on eve of war with Paraguay; was Di-
rector of National Library until his death.
MARTIN DE MOUSSY, JEAN ANTOINE VICTOR see MOUSSY, V.
MARTIN DE
MARTIN FIERRO. Gaucho epic poem, written by Jos?ernandez,
in two parts 1872, 1879; often called most vigorous example of
gaucho poetry; Martin Fierro personifies true Argentine gaucho
who rises above every privation and injustice with physical and
moral energy that inspire pride in all Argentines; poem writ-
ten as appeal for aid of gauchos whose way of life was being
destroyed and were themselves disappearing as a sector of Ar-
gentine society; poem met with immediate success and was re-
vived, two decades later, to receive even greater literary ac-
claim and popularity as one of most important works of gaucho
literature; has special value as historical study of gaucho life,
customs, and psychology; so true to life that gauchos them-
selves welcomed it into their own folk literature; English trans-
lation made by Walter Owen, Oxford 1935; New York 1936 (see
Gaucho; Gaucho Literature; Jos?ernandez).
MARTIN GARCIA ISLAND. Argentine island in the Rio de la Plata
that has played important role in the history of the area; dis-
covered by Juan Diaz de Solis (1516) and named for the store-
keeper of one of his ships, whom the Spaniards buried there;
for the first four centuries following discovery, this small is-
land, approximately 28 miles from the federal capital and less
than 600 square miles in area, dominated all river traffic be-
tween the interior up the Parana and Uruguay rivers; all ships
drawing more than six feet of water were forced to use either
the eastern channel or the much more dangerous western chan-
nel along the island, both of them within gunfire of artillery
on the island; in 1765 the Spanish royal government, in control
of both sides of the Rio de la Plata, began to use the island
as a detention center for prisoners; during the war for inde-
pendence, however, and the various wars that followed?with
Brazil, with the French, and civil wars--it was the strategic
value of the island that mattered and its possession became a
vital concern; Guillermo Brown captured it from the royalists
(1814), Brazilians occupied it briefly in 1826, Rosas fortified
it, Urquiza's Confederation and Buenos Aires province fought
529 Martin Garcia Island
over it and later Argentine presidents strengthened it and made
it a naval base; during the late nineteenth and early twentieth
centuries the island was a major bone of contention between
Brazil and Uruguay, on the one hand, desiring to internation-
alize the Rio de la Plata and Argentina, on the other, claim-
ing to be a national river; by the 1930s and 19405, with the
western channel having been deepened and made the most im-
portant one and the navigation rights generally agreed upon,
Martin Garcia island once again began to be used as a special
prison, usually for political prisoners, with Yrigoyen sent there
in 1930, Per6n in 1945, and Frondizi in 1962.
See Teodoro Caillet-Bois, Historia naval argentina (Bue-
nos Aires, 1944) for military and naval action involving island.
MARTINEZ, ENRIQUE (1789-1870). Patriot; hero of wars of independ-
ence; cabinet minister; member of Buenos Aires oligarchy.
Born in Montevideo; entered military career in 1801;
fought against British invasions 1806-1807; in 1810 was captain
of infantry regiment in Buenos Aires and part of the patriot
group that met at house of Rodriguez Pella; joined in patriot
activities that year along with Jos?arregueira, Manuel Bel-
grano, Tomas Guido, and others; campaigned against Montevi-
deo (1814) and after its surrender joined the Army of the An-
des in Mendoza (1815) as Lt. Colonel commanding 8th regiment
of line infantry; fought in all major engagements in liberation of
Chile: Potrerillos and Guardia Vieja (in Andes) Chacabuco,
Curapaligile, Gayilan, siege and assault on Talcahuano, surprise
of Cancha Rayada, victory at Maipti; went to Peru in San
Martin's liberating army, fighting in assault on Callao, defense
of Lima, actions at Torata and Moquegua; by 1821 he was a
brigadier general, chief of staff and general-in-chief of the
Army of the Andes; later became field marshal; remained in
Peru after San Martin's departure, continued fight for inde-
pendence under Bolivar, then returned to Argentina; on his way
home, in Chile, he was placed in command of the remnant
(76) of granaderos a caballo and led them back to Argentina.
In 1831 he accompanied General Juan Ram6n Gonzalez
Balcarce (q. v.) as chief of staff on campaign into Cordoba;
served as Balcarce's minister of war (1832-1833) when latter
became head of Buenos Aires government; the return of Gov-
ernor Rosas after his victorious campaign against the Indians
in the south plunged Buenos Aires into political strife that be-
came violent; in this struggle between Rosas' supporters and
his enemies, Martinez became the leader of those federalist
Buenos Aires landowners and others who opposed Rosas and he
persuaded Balcarce to give up his own preferred neutrality and
to oppose Rosas; eventually a break came?when Balcarce
threatened legal action for slander against a Rosas paper, Bal-
carce`s government was ousted, with a new one under Viamonte
coming in to finish his term before Rosas' complete takeover
in 1835; Martinez fled to Montevideo where he remained until
1854; supported Fructuoso Rivera in his military campaigns
and also served as his cabinet minister; continued in responsible
Declassifiednd Approved For Release 2012/09/17: CIA-RDP08001297R000800080003-5