The political scene in Uruguay has become…

The political scene in Uruguay has become split between two parties, the conservative Blancos ("Whites") and the liberal Colorados ("Reds").

The Colorados, led by Fructuoso Rivera, represent the business interests of Montevideo; Manuel Oribe, who looks after the agricultural interests of the countryside and promotes protectionism, heads the Blancos.

Rivera had supported Oribe as his successor to the Uruguayan presidency in 1834.

The two groups take their names from the color of the armbands that they wear; initially, the Colorados had worn blue, but when it faded in the sun, they had replaced it with red.

The Uruguayan parties have become associated with warring political factions in neighboring Argentina.

The Colorados favor the exiled Argentinian liberal Unitarios, many of whom have taken refuge in Montevideo, while Oribe.

the Blanco president, is a close friend of the Argentinian dictator Manuel de Rosas.

Oribe had taken Rosas's side when the French navy blockaded Buenos Aires in 1838.

This had led the Colorados and the exiled Unitarios to seek French backing against Oribe and on June 15, 1838, an army led by the Colorado leader Rivera had overthrown the president, who has fled to Argentina.

The Argentine Unitarios form a government-in-exile in Montevideo and, with secret French encouragement, Rivera declares war on Rosas in 1839.