Roger, Aimé (sold)

Aimé Roger (fl. 1836-1868) was a French diplomat active in South America during the post-independence struggle for dominance in the La Plata region. Virtually nothing is known about him: there is no convincing record of his birth or death, and no record at all of his education or training. He first appears in the historical record as an attaché in the French consulate in Buenos Aires. In 1736 he was to be reassigned to a new consulate in Albania, but the political ferment in La Plata resulted in France's decision to keep him in place as vice-consul. He produced a report on the Paraguayan dictator José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia. Later that year, the death of his superior led to Roger temporarily being made head of the French legation. France's policies were at the time expansionist, and in the South American theater this led France to support regimes friendly to foreign trade. In 1837, France saw the coalition of Peru and Bolivia as favorable to French interests; the Argentine Confederation were protectionist, and aligned against Peru and Bolivia. Roger was sent in 1838 to deliver an ultimatum to Argentina in advance of a French blockade of the Rio de la Plata, insisting on exemption of French subjects from military service and ensure 'most favored nation' treatment for France. Roger also maneuvered to develop relations with Uruguay's Colorado party, whose domestic foes, the Blancos, were supported by Argentina. The notion was to support the blockade with an Uruguayan alliance, relieving France of the necessity of landing troops (a move that would have run afoul of relations with the British). Neither the blockade nor Roger's other truculent moves were successful, and ultimately the French would withdraw from the conflict. Roger was subsequently appointed consul in New Orleans, where he appears to have caused little more trouble than marrying an American, with whom he would have a child. He is understood to have remained in New Orleans twenty years before returning to France.