The Jesuit-Guarani territory: from the conflict of meanings to armed conflict (1750-1761)

Abstract

Until the middle of the 18th century, the use and disposition of the La Plata territories were a central problem in colonial relations. Within this context, the Guarani missions, with their farms and mate plantations, constituted a territory that hindered the advance and pursuit of the economic interests of the neighbors from Paraguay and the La Plata River, of the Portuguese and even the Charrua, Guenoa and Minuano. In addition, the Spanish Bourbons prepared geopolitical reforms that would affect the role played by the Jesuit missions in the colonization and defense of the Spanish crown and thus of its rights and privileges over the land. This paper discusses the diversity of meanings, expectations and representations around the missions’ territory in relation to the interests and fantasies projected on them in a period when the problem of territory and the competition for resources became concrete in the La Plata space. It tries to show those new policies and representations created a conflict with the Guarani interests and views of the reductions’ space and how this polarization led to an armed conflict that has been called “Guarani War.”

Key words: mission territory, “Guarani War”, geo-political reforms.