Brazil has carried out three political and…

Brazil has carried out three political and military interventions in Uruguay.

The first had been in 1851, against Manuel Oribe to fight Argentine influence in the country, following which Montevideo had rewarded Brazil's support by signing treaties that confirmed Brazil's right to intervene in Uruguay's internal affairs.

In accordance with the 1851 treaties, Brazil intervenes militarily in Uruguay as often as it deems necessary.

The second Brazilian intervention had come in 1855, at the request of the Uruguayan government and Venancio Flores, leader of the Colorados, who are traditionally supported by the Brazilian empire.

The third intervention, in 1864, lights the fuse for the Paraguayan War.

Bernardo Berro, a member of the National (Blanco) Party, had first served as head of state of Uruguay in a provisional government for several weeks in 1852, during a brief period in which the National Party had come to power.

Leading the National Party's return to power in 1860, Berro had made attempts to unite the country's political factions, efforts not seldom opposed by members of his own Party and Government.

Flores, who in 1839 had been made political chief of the department of San José, had fought in the "Guerra Grande" against Manuel Oribe and his Argentinian backers, and had then become a leading figure in the Colorado party and formed a triumvirate with Fructuoso Rivera and Juan Antonio Lavalleja in 1853.

Serving as interim President of Uruguay, he had remained in power until 1855, after which he had moved to Argentina.

In 1863, he had started a rebellion against Berro, which has led to civil war in Uruguay.

Berro had stepped down from the Presidency on March 1, 1864.

Atanasio de la Cruz Aguirre, a member of the National Party and a Senator from 1861, assumes the Presidency of Uruguay as next-in-line, in his capacity of President of the Senate.

The Brazilian government has nominated a member of the ruling Liberal party, councilor José Antônio Saraiva, as plenipotentiary to Uruguay.

In April 1864, Brazil sends a diplomatic mission to Uruguay, led by Saraiva, to demand payment for the damages caused to gaucho farmers in border conflicts with Uruguayan farmers.

Uruguayan president Atanásio Aguirre, of the National Party, refuses the Brazilian demands.

Francisco Solano López offers himself as mediator, but is turned down by Brazil.