In 1795, he was promoted to commander of the San Pablo, part of the Spanish fleet under José de Córdoba y Ramos.

The ship, whilst engaged in battle, lost a mast which fell over Hidalgo de Cisneros' head.

[2] After recovering from his wounds, Hidalgo de Cisneros received further promotion and served as vice-president of the governing council ("Junta") of Cartagena.

The Junta gave Hidalgo de Cisneros orders to land in Montevideo, raise armies against Liniers, prosecute him with court-martial and return him under guard to Spain and to dissolve the local criollo militia.

[3] The Junta created a political office to conduct direct foreign relations with colonial Brazil, to reign in the autonomy being exercised by the viceroy which was seen as potentially insubordinate and secessionist.

However, the attempts to please the criollos found resistance from the Junta, which did not approve the request to promote Cornelio Saavedra to colonel rank.

Mariano Moreno, a criollo lawyer, wrote a document to request Cisneros the reopening of free trade, entitled "The Representation of the Landowners".

[7] On 25 May 1809, a revolution in Chuquisaca deposed the governor and president of the Royal Audiencia of Charcas, Ramón García de León y Pizarro, and accused him of supporting a Portuguese protectorate under the authority of Charlotte Joaquina.

Military command fell to Colonel Juan Antonio Alvarez de Arenales who, due to uncertainty as to who should be in charge of the civilian affairs, also exercised some civil powers.

[8] The measures taken against those revolutions reinforced the feeling of inequity among Criollos, more so because they greatly contrasted against the pardon that Martín de Álzaga and others received after serving just a few time in jail.

[9] Among others, Juan José Castelli was present at the proceedings of the University of Saint Francis Xavier where the Syllogism of Chuquisaca was developed.

[11] However, he rejected a proposal of the economist José María Romero to banish a number of people which were considered dangerous to the Spanish regime: Saavedra, Paso, Chiclana, Vieytes, Balcarce, Castelli, Larrea, Guido, Viamonte, Moreno, Sáenz and Belgrano, among many others.

[12] All these measures, and a proclamation issued by the Viceroy to prevent the spreading of news that might be considered subversive, made the Criollos think that a formal pretext would be enough to take actions that would lead to the outbreak of a revolution.

With both the king of Spain and the Junta removed of power, many people thought that Cisneros had no legitimacy to govern, starting the May Revolution.

However, the Junta distrusted him, so he was banished to the Canary Islands, along with the members of the Royal Audiencia of Buenos Aires, under the pretext that his life was in danger.

His wife Inés de Gaztambide stayed in Buenos Aires as his representative, but she left the city afterwards and moved to Montevideo.