Plácido de Castro was working in the Purus River area when he heard of the Bolivian government's leasing plan. At the start of 1902 he accepted an invitation from Rodrigo de Carvalho and two other large rubber producers to lead a revolt against Bolivia. Plácido de Castro took a boat up the Acre river, ostensibly to conduct land surveys in the south but in fact carrying arms and ammunition. He stopped off briefly in Puerto Alonso (also called Puerto Acre, now Porto Acre) to meet the Bolivian governor Lino Romero and evaluate his future opponent. In the south he organised the rubber tappers and other inhabitants for the revolt. He then returned to Brazil, bypassing Puerto Alonso to avoid alerting the Bolivians. Plácido participated in the 1 July 1902 meeting at which the revolutionary junta was formed with a goal of obtaining the independence of Acre and then integrating it with Brazil.
