Private vengeance and defamation of the innocent did their sinister work unchecked.

Even when his arbitrary treatment of foreigners had compelled France for a while to institute a blockade of Buenos Aires, the wily dictator utilized the incident to turn patriotic resentment to his own advantage.
Meanwhile matters in Uruguay had come to such a pass that Rosas saw an opportunity to extend his control in that direction also.

Placed between Brazil and the Argentine Confederation and so often a bone of contention, the little country was hardly free from the rule of the former state when it came near falling under the domination of the latter.

Only a few years of relative tranquillity had elapsed when two parties sprang up in Uruguay: the "Reds" (Colorados) and the "Whites" (Blancos).

Of these, the one was supposed to represent the liberal and the other the conservative element.