Un libertador patriota? Agustın de Iturbide e il primo impero messicano

The essay analyzes the political and institutional trajectory of the Liberator and first Emperor of Mexico Agustín de Iturbide, through the looking glass of some illustrative publications and discourses produced after the independence from Spain. In particular, it will be explored the debate on interactions between independence, principle of national sovereignty, constitutional monarchism and theory of balance of powers, in order to reinterpret Iturbide’s «transformation» from Liberator to despot, mostly considered to be the effect of his autocratic aims, as a failed attempt to put in practice models of power management related to the European political culture.