The cannibal tribe of Venezuela and the battle that ended with destroying its territorial power
To 450 years of the inauguration of Caracas or old known as Santiago de leon of Caracas I would like to dedicate a post talking about something of which to me as many people does not call the attention Who lived before the arrival of the conquerors in Venezuela?
First of all I want to talk about a main character, the main factor that the Spanish explorations become a total massacre.
THE CACIQUE GUAICAIPURO
Illustrious procer "the chief of chiefs" was an important cacique that united the tribes of the Venezuelan center creating a coalition in order to take the Spaniards from their lands in search of gold mines and subtracting them. Its main domains were the Teques (present capital of the Miranda state) and old area where the Teque came from where they were born and the valley of Caracas, place where they were the name CARACA that the first Spaniards gave to them when speaking frequently on the Plant caraca; The main objective of this cacique was to create a wall of blood for the conquistadors that during 7 or 10 years kept at bay and it was not until the battle of maracapana that the Spaniards could defeat them.
Guaicaipuro died in 1568, some say that indigenous traitors to their cause placed the place of their hut and ambushed him, burning his hut and dying at the hands of Spaniards but never stop fighting some of our principal proceres Venezuelans.
The Caribs: the dreaded tribe by the Spaniards
The Caribs were one of the largest tribes of Venezuelan territory, was famous for being a warrior tribe with cannibal practices, did not see if they were indigenous or conquerors, did not leave their thirst for blood to one side; Many Spanish chroniclers had as main theme their ruthless practices that until this time are subject to converse What would have been the thoughts of these Europeans when being attacked and crouching by this tribe that at the time of the battle of only hearing its screams Of war they were frightened? It was normal that at the moment you entered their territories, parts of their enemies hung as a way to create fear while they were eaten as a rite of victory, this tribe maintained until the arrival of the Spaniards Territorial supremacy.
Caribbean Warrior
The Battle of Maracapana
Cito: In 1568, while Diego de Losada was camping in the newly founded town of Santiago de León in Caracas, Guaicaipuro deployed great activity to convince the other caciques so that, with the greatest number of warriors, they would go to the savannah Of Maracapana (site of the Maracas), a plain near the lagoon of Catia, with galleries of palm trees and totumales, trees very valuable for the aboriginal ethnic groups where they extracted toca for maracas, in the environs of what today is the Park of the West and Plaza Sucre in the city of Caracas. From this elevated site of the valley of the caracas would launch a general attack against the conqueror and achieve a definitive victory, perhaps taking advantage of the surprise factor. Arrived the day, the armies of the great Caribbean coalition met in the indicated area. There were 16 caciques, from the coast and intermediate mountains. Many of the caciques did not appear due to bad weather and lack of coordination.1 Tiuna gathered 4,000 warriors with whom he marched to the battlefield where he encountered the chiefs Guaicamacuto and Aricabuto, soon after they were joined by Naiguatá, Uripata, Anarigua, Mamacuri, Querequemare, Prepocunate, Baruta, Chacao, Araguaire and Guarauguta with 7,000 warriors; In representation of the mariches arrived with 3,000 men to the control of Aricabuto and Aramaipuro.
While Guacaipuro led a column of teques and tarmas, about 2,000 men; Ignorant of the cacique's preparations, had sent a party under Pedro Alonso Galeas to the lands of the Palmas, in search of provisions, and during the execution of this operation the Spaniards met the people of Guacaipuro; Without pausing a formal fight, the Spanish chief decided to distract the opposite column by repeated attacks; So he kept it until nightfall, due to bad weather and Spanish distraction, the Indians withdrew. In the meantime, the indigenous troops gathered in Maracapana, noting that after noon Guacaipuro, who would command the actions like the Guapotori or leader of the confederation, began to retire and those who had not yet arrived decided not to appear. There were between 10,000 and 14,000 warriors, who commanded Tiuna to advance to the city, armed only with spears, macanas and arrows.
Losada, now aware of this offensive, marched to the area with about 18,000 indigenous allies or yanaconas (a term the Spaniards took from the Incas used as a synonym for serf), in this case jiraharas probably brought from El Tocuyo. Now having a numerical advantage Losada charged against the Caribbean warriors whom he put in retreat after a bloody combat, which resulted in a disaster for Guaicaipuro with very high losses, only Tiuna and his men were left on the battlefield. Tiuna, who apparently was the last to fall, with a half sword stuck in the stick of guaica, with repeated voices challenged Losada; An officer named Francisco Maldonado, with his spear attacked Tiuna; But the Indian, dodging the blow, gave him a thrust with which he pierced his thigh and knocked him off the horse, without giving him time to get up, gave him another shot on one arm; Three of the Castilians intervened to help the wounded. When they attacked the third, he was shot by an Indian in the service of the Spaniards.
Many streets, states, municipalities and squares are named in his honor, Venezuela is a country rich in history, from where distinguished liberators and warriors of freedom came to give their last breath but defend their ideals and capture them in history. .
I hope it has been to your liking.
References: https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guaicaipuro
http://www.efemeridesvenezolanas.com/sec/his/id/509/?show=2
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batalla_de_Maracapana