"El único sistema posible para la conquista del Chaco es la población”. Gobernadores del Chaco, comandantes de frontera, y su pensamiento sobre el territorio chaqueño (1872-1884)

Abstract

I analyze and compare the statement memories presented by the governors of the Chaco and the commanders of the North of the Interior (or North of Santa Fe) and Salta boundaries to the ministries of the Interior and War and Navy, respectively, during the period 1872-1884. The aim is to address the ways in which these authorities legitimized by the State thought about the problems of the territory and the population, and presented possible ways of solving them. The comparison is made from describing the moral and ethical justifications emerging in the words of these authorities (what we will call 'rationalities'), and the procedures, techniques and calculations elaborated as solutions to the problems described (what we will call 'technologies'). I intend to contribute with this analysis to the study of the political-military process deployed in the region after the War of the Triple Alliance, at the same time to give an account of the ways in which they tried to establish a government territory.