Antequera y Castro, José de [key], 1690–1731, Peruvian lawyer, leader of a revolt in Paraguay. A prosecutor of the audiencia of Charcas, he was sent to Asunción to probe charges against the governor of Paraguay, Diego de los Reyes. Antequera sided with the opposition, became governor himself, and upheld the celebrated doctrine that “the authority of the people is superior to that of the king.” He led the uprising of the comuneros in a war against the authority of the viceroy and was finally captured and beheaded in 1731. This first struggle for freedom was the forerunner of the Spanish-American revolts against Spain.
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