unitarios

Unitarios were a political faction in the United Provinces of the Rio de la Plata, later Argentina, during the early 19th century. They advocated centralized national authority based in Buenos Aires, a strong executive, and liberal, secular reforms. They contrasted with the Federales, who favored provincial autonomy and a looser federal structure.

The unitario–federal confrontation shaped the Argentine civil conflicts from the 1820s to the 1850s, including exile of many leaders and shifting governments. Unitarios supported measures such as centralized law, standardized administration, and sometimes secularization and modernization.

Prominent unitarios included Bernardino Rivadavia, who as a national leader pursued liberal reforms; later figures such as Bartolomé Mitre and Domingo Faustino Sarmiento helped mold the national state after the constitution of the 1850s. The Federales were led by figures like Juan Manuel de Rosas, who maintained authority in Buenos Aires until his defeat by Justo José de Urquiza in 1852, enabling the adoption of the 1853 constitution and the later unification of the country.

In other contexts, unitario or Unitarian refers to adherents of Unitarianism, a Christian theological movement that emphasizes the oneness of God and rejects the Trinity. The term is thus used in religious history independent from its Argentine political usage.