Bernardo O'Higgins accepted the position instead, and became the leader of an independent Chile. He was granted dictatorial powers as Supreme Director on 16 February 1817. On 12 February 1818, Chile proclaimed itself an independent republic. Throughout the war with the royalists, O'Higgins had engaged in an ongoing feud with José Miguel Carrera. After their retreat in 1814, O'Higgins had fared much better than Carrera, who found little support forthcoming from San Martín, O'Higgins' political ally. Carrera was imprisoned to prevent his involvement in Chilean affairs; after his escape, he ended up taking the winning side in the Argentine Federalist war, helping
Bernardo Vieira de Melo captain-general on November 17, 1691. On January 8, 1695, he was appointed Captain-General of Rio Grande do Norte, and on September 25, 1709 Sergeant Major of the Third of Palmares, in which position he took an active part in War of the peddlers. In November 1710, Vieira was the first to call for the creation of a Republic in Brazil, an act for which he was arrested in Recife in 1712 and shipped to Lisbon with his son, André. He died in the Limoeiro prison in 1718. Bernardo Vieira de Melo Bernardo Vieira de Melo was the first Governor of