The Supreme Protector of the Peru–Bolivian Confederation, Andrés de Santa Cruz, supported free trade with Europeans, as well as the Unitarians, whereas Rosas was leader of the Federales.

Those citizens were César Hipólito Bacle, who had sold Argentine cartography to Bolivia, and Pedro Lavié, who had stolen from a regiment in Dolores.

Although the requests were light, Rosas believed that they would only provide precedent for further French interference in the internal affairs of Argentina, and refused to comply.

[4] Things became more complicated for France as time passed: Andrés Santa Cruz was weakening, the strategy employed by Moreno was bearing fruit, and the French themselves started to have doubts about continuing a conflict that they had counted on being quite short.

Domingo Cullen, governor of Santa Fe (replacing the ill López,) considered Rosas to have nationalized a conflict that involved just Buenos Aires, and proposed to the French that Santa Fe, Córdoba, Entre Ríos and Corrientes secede, making a new country that would obey them if the naval blockade was spared to this new country.

Rivera was urged by France to take military action against Rosas, but he was reluctant to do so, believing that the French underestimated his strength, even more so after Santa Cruz's defeat.

On paper, Rivera was supposed to cross the Parana with 600 men, Entre Ríos would immediately join the resistance against Rosas and the army would grow to 6.000 men, then the same would happen in Santa Fe and the size of the army would be duplicated, and then it would attack Buenos Aires with support of the French navy, whose population would revolt against Rosas.

The French and Unitarians believed in this scenario, but Rivera was aware that the popular support to Rosas was genuine, so sending a small army to Buenos Aires would be doomed to failure.

As Rivera did not take action, they elected Juan Lavalle to lead the attack, who shared the unitarian optimism on the fate of a small army.

He called all people to stand against Rosas, regardless of color or political ideas, but he found severe resistance, so he moved to Corrientes to join governor Ferré.

However, by that point France had lost faith in the effectiveness of the blockade, as what was thought to be an easy and short conflict was turning into a long war, without a clear path toward a final victory.

Buenos Aires was ready to resist his military attack, but the lack of support forced him to give it up and retire from the battlefield, without starting any battle.