The First Cities

The founding of the Latin American cities in the 16th Century was the most important process of its kind in the history of humanity as much for the number of cities founded and the huge territory covered by conquistadors and governors in charge of the creation of settlements.

Diego Velázquez arrived in Cuba in 1511 leading 300 men with the mission of conquering and colonizing the island discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1492. At the time, the island was inhabited by some 200,000 aborigines. They were peaceful people, some dedicated to hunting and fishing and others to agriculture. When the colonization was over four years later, almost all the "Indians" had perished through massacres, epidemics and forced labour, and the territory had been pacified.

It was in that period that Velázquez founded the first seven Cuban towns: Baracoa, Bayamo, Trinidad, Sancti Spíritus, La Habana, Puerto Príncipe (later Camagüey) and Santiago de Cuba. Some time later, in 1524, Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa founded San Juan de los Remedios.

Around that time Diego Velázquez died, a man who had bad luck both in his public and private lives. He had brought his fiancée with him to the "New World", expecting to govern a wealthy land. He did not find the desired riches and became a widower six days after his wedding. All the expeditions he organized to expand his power and influence on the mainland were a failure and the triumph of Hernan Cortés in Mexico was more than he could bear. One could say he died of envy; certainly his rage may have caused the stroke that killed him in Santiago de Cuba on June 12, 1524 (although some historians say it happened June 11, 1525).

The new settlements were christened, according to Havana historian Eusebio Leal, with the apropos duality of names from the Catholic calendar of saints and the names given by the natives, who had been deprived of their way of life, their cultural expressions, and life itself...