Diego Caballero

Diego Caballero (died 1560) was a Spanish merchant and minor Conquistador in the Caribbean area and in the islands off the coast of Venezuela. He organised raids on natives, whom he then used as slaves in pearl fishing and other enterprises. He amassed enormous wealth in America, which he invested in further enterprises throughout the Spanish Empire. He thus became enormously wealthy, perhaps the most important Spanish merchant of his day. He held, or purchased, several official posts, in the service of the King, Charles V and in Seville.

He was born at the end of the Fifteenth Century in Guadalupe, Spain, the son of Pedro Caballero and Catalina de Villegas. In early March 1517, taking advantage of the fact that his cousin Hernando Caballero was Mayor of Santo Domingo, he got permission to emigrate there, along with his brother Alonso. He came of a well-off noble background, so he managed to get various official posts on the island.

He was immediately appointed to the Royal Audiencia of Santo Domingo, the first Royal court of justice there. Thanks to this, his commercial and political influence spread along the coast of Tierra Firma from Santa Marta to the island of Trinidad. He was a man of many talents, and had the rank of a Knight Twenty-Four (or alderman) of the city of Seville, a post reserved to those of noble descent. He put in charge of the finances of Hispaniola, and was its military governor. He ran several private enterprises there.

After a time, Diego Caballero resigned all his official posts and dedicated himself entirely to shipping and commerce on both sides of the Atlantic.

He obtained a licence, under the supervision of an "Oidor" (Judge) of the ‘’Royal Audiencia’’, to put together a fleet and set about capturing native Indians along the coast of Venezuela, between Cabo de San Román and Cabo de la Vela - some several hundred leagues - and in the adjacent islands . This enslavement of Indians was justified by claiming they had refused conversion to Christianity, or were practicing cannibalism.

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