Manuel de Sarratea
Manuel Mariano Hipólito de Sarratea y Altolaguirre was an Argentine diplomat, politician and soldier. He served in the First Triumvirate and twice as governor of Buenos Aires Province in 1820, when he signed the Treaty of Pilar. He later held diplomatic posts in Great Britain, Brazil and France.
Early life and first public roles
Sarratea was born in Buenos Aires into a merchant family linked to transatlantic trade networks. He was educated in Spain and returned to the Río de la Plata on the eve of the independence process. He rose to prominence in the post-May Revolution governments and on 23 September 1811 became one of the three members of the First Triumvirate, with Feliciano A. Chiclana and Juan José Paso.Diplomatic activity, 1814–1816
After the restoration of Ferdinand VII of Spain, Sarratea undertook diplomatic missions in Europe. Contemporary and later studies describe negotiations around constitutional-monarchical options considered in London and Madrid in 1815–1816.Buenos Aires governor (1820)
Following the defeat of the Directorio at the Battle of Cepeda and the dissolution of central authorities, Buenos Aires established a provincial government. Sarratea was appointed governor on 18 February 1820. On 23 February he signed, with Estanislao López and Francisco Ramírez, the Treaty of Pilar, which provided a framework for peace among the provinces and envisaged the convocation of a federal congress.Documents preserved by the Buenos Aires municipal library include orders related to confidential clauses of the treaty, such as the delivery of arms to federal forces. Military resistance in the capital forced Sarratea to resign on 6 March; Juan Ramón Balcarce served briefly, after which Sarratea resumed office from 11 March to 2 May 1820, being succeeded by Ildefonso Ramos Mexía. For the subsequent institutional transition, contemporary broadsides document Ramos Mejía’s enactments and the provisional arrangements of June 1820.