The Administration of “Real Situado” in Times of Governor Tomás Marín de Poveda: Corruption to the Detriment of the Chilean Army (1692-1700)

Abstract

The “merit of money” enabled Tomas Marin de Poveda to serve as Governor and Captain General of the Kingdom of Chile between 1692 and 1700. Marin de Poveda took advantage of the Royal Army designated for the defense of the Chilean border, and the Royal Situado destined to finance it, as means toward the amortization of the considerable investment he had made, by using them to carry out illicit dealings that amounted to corruption. In complicity with the situadistas and many of the military and financial officers, Marin de Poveda embezzled much of the subsidy assigned to the soldiers, indebted them and forced them to buy from him and his cohorts, using violence and coercion on the institutions and causing the failure of the Administration’s controls; all this, ultimately, to the detriment of the Chilean military and the stability of the Empire itself. In any case, omission in the delivery of the Situado from Potosi to Chile during the time of his government made it impossible for the Army to serve as Tomas Marin de Poveda’s only and grand means for private gain.