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Juan Facundo Quiroga (1778-1834) grew up on his father's estancia in the western province of La Rioja. He joined the local militia, during which he served in Buenos Aires. By 1820, Facundo commanded the militia and governed the province using authoritarian methods. His cry "Religion or Death!" captured the provincial conservatism of the day in its fight against the Unitarios, the liberals who for the most part resided in Buenos Aires. Facundo spent the remainder of the 1820s fighting the Unitarios from La Rioja until his alliance with Rosas and other federalist caudillos defeated them. He also served under Rosas in the successful 1832 desert campaign to expel Indians in order to increase ranch lands. In 1834, while traveling to mediate a provincial dispute, he was ambushed and assassinated, some suspect by order of Rosas himself, who had come to regard Facundo as a rival and political threat.
see also:Juan Facundo Quiroga
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