stayed in power. The failed mutiny increased the power of criollos in the society: the peninsular military bodies, who supported the mutiny, were disbanded, and the only remaining ones were those of criollos. Carlota Joaquina, the sister of Ferdinand VII and wife of Portuguese prince regent John, who was in Brazil after fleeing the napoleonic invasion of Portugal, avoided the capture of the Spanish royal family and attempted to take charge of the Spanish viceroyalties as regent. This political project, known as Carlotism, begun in hopes of preventing a French invasion of the Americas. A small secret society of criollos, composed of politicians such as Manuel Belgrano and Juan José Castelli, and military officers such as Antonio Beruti and Hipólito Vieytes, supported this project. They considered it an opportunity to get a local government instead of a European one, or a step towards a possible declaration of independence. The project was resisted by viceroy Liniers, most peninsulars, and some criollos, including Mariano Moreno, Juan José Paso, and Cornelio Saavedra. They suspected that it concealed Portuguese expansionist ambitions over the region. The supporters of Carlota Joaquina intended her to head a constitutional monarchy, whereas she wanted to govern as an absolute monarch; these conflicting goals undermined the project and caused it to fail. Britain, which had a strong influence in the politics of the Portuguese Empire, opposed the project as well: the British wanted to prevent Spain from splitting into many kingdoms, and considered Carlota Joaquina unable to prevent this.The disputes between Álzaga and Liniers were noticed by the Central Junta, which appointed a new viceroy instead of Liniers: Baltasar Hidalgo de Cisneros. The criollos resisted his appointment, arguing that Liniers had been confirmed as viceroy by the king, whereas Cisneros lacked such legitimacy. Manuel Belgrano urged Liniers to resist against Cisneros, with the support of the loyal military bodies under his command. Liniers, however, rejected the proposal and handed the government to Cisneros without resistance. Javier de Elío accepted the authority of the new viceroy and dissolved the Junta of Montevideo. Cisneros rearmed the disbanded peninsular militias and pardoned those responsible for the mutiny. The example of Elío and Álzaga, however, was soon followed in Upper Peru. On 25 May 1809, the Chuquisaca Revolution deposed Ramón García de León y Pizarro as Governor of Chuquisaca and replaced him with Juan Antonio Álvarez de Arenales. On July 16 the La Paz