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Why did Buenos Aires refuse to join the 1853 constitutional convention at first?

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Panoramic aerial view of Buenos Aires, Argentina, featuring the Obelisk monument, wide avenues lined with trees, and dense city buildings under a blue sky. — Buenos Aires Aerial view of the city center, including the obelisk (center), Buenos Aires.

The province of Buenos Aires refused to join the 1853 constitutional convention primarily due to conflicts over economic control and political power.

Historically, the porteños (residents of Buenos Aires) sought to maintain centralist control over the country, largely because the city’s customhouse served as the primary source of national revenue. When Justo José de Urquiza assumed leadership after the fall of Juan Manuel de Rosas, he moved to nationalize these customs receipts and opened the Paraná and Uruguay rivers to free trade.12

These policies threatened the economic dominance of Buenos Aires, which had previously benefited from its status as the country's exclusive entrepôt. Consequently, the province broke away from the other provinces in 1853, refusing to join the new union until it was eventually integrated in 1859 following military conflict.12