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Today I’m going to talk you about a Chilean historical character. The most of the people don’t know that he was a lawyer,but he is well known as “el guerrillero”, his name, Manuel Javier Rodriguez Erdoiza.

Manuel Rodriguez on his early age studied at Convictorio Carolino, with some of the young ones that will be very involved in the independence of Chile, as Jose Miguel Carrera, a personal friend of Rodriguez. Then he studied law at Real Universidad de San Felipe (after independence known as Universidad de Chile) and became a lawyer in 1807. During Jose Miguel Carrera’s government, he served as Minister of Finance and Defense and personal secretary of Carrera. His most important work was during the Spanish Reconquest, serving as José de San Martín’s spy, wearing different disguises as monk or simply farmer. During this period he won his nickname “el guerrillero” because he with a group of bandits led by Rodriguez and Jose Miguel Neira, began to do some guerrilla actions of resistance, trying to make born the patriotic sentiment on the Chilean common people that stayed in Chile during the reconquest period. Finally after independence, Rodriguez had political quarrels with another important character of Chilean history, Bernardo O'Higgins, blaming him for the dead of "Los Hermanos Carrera" in Argentina. O'Higgins ordered apprehend Rodriguez accusing him of troublemaker. When he was being transferred to the prison in Quillota, nearby Til Til, he was cowardly shot in the back by Lt. Antonio Navarro. His remains were transferred from Til Til to Santiago.

Some people say that he was just a revolutionary and that he didn’t do important things compared with another characters on history but I admire him because of his courage, his patriotism and for being who made born on common people the Chilean spirit of perseverance, hope and trust on the patriot cause. After Cancha Rayada battle when the people thought that everything was lost, he motivated the people with the great phrase “aún tenemos patria ciudadanos”.

Also he appears in the two thousand pesos bill and the FPMR took his name inspired on him but that’s another story xD. Greetings.