The Nacional argentino: Discourses to build Urquiza’s leadership (1853-1854)

With the victory of Caseros in 1852, General Urquiza became the political leader of the Argentine Confederation. In the new provisional capital of the country, Paraná, a new newspaper began to be published: the Nacional Argentino, controlled by the central government, in charge of appointing its editors. This article researches the editorial line of the newspaper with respect to Urquiza’s government during the first years (1853-1854), when the leadership of the general from Entre Ríos was being forged. For this purpose, it is approached from the discourse analysis, emphasizing the production of political speeches, the concepts and how they were structured during these years to support the figure of Urquiza and reject other political figures that could rival his power. In this way, the Nacional Argentino resorted to national unity as the core of its discourse, but as a result of a dialogued relationship between the central government and the provinces and supporting the formation of clubs in different cities where interests could be expressed and associated with those of the nation.

Public opinion; press; political unity; Confederación Argentina