Mariano Vera
After the proclamation of the first national government junta, in 1810, Santa Fe was ruled by lieutenant governors sent from the capital Buenos Aires, which did not sit well with many local citizens and worked to increase the influence of the federalist leader José Gervasio Artigas, based on the Eastern Bank (today's Uruguay).The Supreme Directorship invaded Santa Fe in March 1815; the next month Artigas liberated it and set up Francisco Candioti [es] as governor.Vera and other political leaders, notably Estanislao López, gathered the support of Candioti's followers, and rebelled in March 1816, helped by Artigas's troops coming via Paraná, Entre Ríos.Buenos Aires's occupation forces under Juan José Viamonte were defeated, and Mariano Vera was elected governor of Santa Fe.Governor Vera, weakened, was eventually ousted by his former ally Estanislao López, who would prevail over the centralist army and rule the province for twenty years.