Feliciano de la Mota Botello
| Feliciano de la Mota Botello | |
|---|---|
| Governor of Tucumán Province | |
|
In office 6 October 1817 – 11 November 1819 |
|
| Preceded by | Bernabé Aráoz |
| Succeeded by | Bernabé Aráoz |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1769 Santa Fe (Argentina) |
| Died | c. 1830 San Fernando de Catamarca |
| Nationality | Argentine |
| Occupation | Merchant, Soldier |
| Known for | Governor of Tucumán Province |
Feliciano de la Mota Botello (1769–1830) was an Argentine politician who became governor of Tucumán Province in the years after the May Revolution.
Feliciano de la Mota Botello was born in 1769 in Santa Fe, in what was then the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata. He had settled in Catamarca Province by 1790. He became one of the leading merchants in the city, and was several times mayor of the city. He traveled regularly on business to Buenos Aires, where he became interested in the Patriotic Society, which put him in touch with Mariano Moreno and Manuel Belgrano, an important connection.
After the May Revolution in 1810 these relationships led to his appointment of Commander of Arms and lieutenant governor of the "possession" of Catamarca, which was part of the Salta del Tucumán Province. He was given the military rank of lieutenant colonel. He reached Catamarca in October 1810 and set out to instill the revolutionary spirit in his province. He also formed a corps of 150 Catamarca volunteers to join the First Expedition to Upper Peru. All while he was in government he helped form the provincial militias and aid the national armies.
Mota was replaced in January 1812 by Domingo Ortiz de Ocampo from La Rioja Province, brother of the former chief of the Army of the North. He remained in Catamarca as military chief, and in September 1814 was re-appointed lieutenant governor. The next month, Salta del Tucumán was divided into Salta Province and Tucumán Province, with Catamarca part of Tucumán. However, the town of Santa María was transferred from Catamarca to Salta. Mota protested to the Directory, and took control of Santa María. He took advantage of the fact that Salta was occupied in repelling royalist forces. He continued to send aid to the Army of the North, although his relations with the commander José Rondeau were strained.
When Manuel Belgrano took over the army, he found Colonel Bernabé Aráoz, Governor of Tucumán, to be too powerful. Aráoz was a patriot, but with conservative political views, and refused to become subordinate to Belgrano. Belgrano accused Aráoz of not providing enough help from provincial funds, and in September 1817 Belgrano got the Director Juan Martín de Pueyrredón to appoint Mota Botello in his place as governor of Tucumán. Belgrano and Mota soon had to accept that Aráoz had not hidden anything. There simply was no money to help the Army of the North. Meanwhile, the government in Buenos Aires was spending all their revenue on fighting the federalist rebels and on supporting the Army of the Andes in its campaign in Chile. Belgrano was unable to attempt a fourth expedition to Upper Peru (Bolivia). In late 1818 the army moved to Córdoba to fight against the federalist in Santa Fe Province, which ended in a federalist victory in the Battle of Cepeda (1820).
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