Jurisdictional powers in the government and customs administration in the Rio de la Plata: the secret commission of Francisco Ximénez de Mesa in the Royal Customs of Montevideo in 1786

Abstract

The present paper aims to learn about the political and institutional reality of the Royal Customs of the Río de la Plata. It seeks to understand the political system of the Spanish monarchy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and analyzes the secret commission of Francisco Ximénez de Mesa in the Royal Customs office of Montevideo in 1786. The jurisdictional powers of the Royal Treasury in the hands of the superintendent of the Royal Treasury, Francisco de Paula Sanz, allowed organizing such an investigation. In 1788, after the restructuring of the superintendence, the commission reports were resumed, causing the revision of the financial statements, leading to the bankruptcy of the administrator Antonio Quintana Lasso de la Vega. For the study of this case, files from the Criminal section of the Archivo General de la Nación, documentationof Royal Order, regulations and ordinances linked to the administrative organization of the customs branch were consulted.