Francisco Fajardo (

Isla Margarita Margarita Island (, ) is the largest island in the Venezuelan state of Nueva Esparta, situated off the northeastern coast of the country, in the Caribbean Sea. The capital city of Nueva Esparta, La Asunción, is located on the island. History ...

Nueva Esparta The Nueva Esparta State (in Spanish: ''Estado Nueva Esparta'', ), is one of the 23 states of Venezuela. It comprises Margarita Island, Coche, and the largely uninhabited Cubagua. The state has the smallest area, and is located off the nort ...

Colonial Venezuela Spanish expeditions led by Columbus and Alonso de Ojeda reached the coast of present-day Venezuela in 1498 and 1499. The first colonial exploitation was of the pearl oysters of the "Pearl Islands". Spain established its first permanent South Ame ...

c. 1524 - Cumaná, Sucre, Colonial Venezuela 1564) was a Spanish conquistador active in

Venezuela Venezuela (; ), officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela ( es, link=no, República Bolivariana de Venezuela), is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many islands and islets in th ...

. He was an example of a '' mestizo'' (mixed race) conquistador. Fajardo was the son of a Spanish lieutenant of the same name and an indigenous Indian woman, Isabel of the Waikerí. In 1555 to 1557 he made several expeditions from Margarita to conquer the ''Caracas'' tribe around the valleys of present-day Caracas, even before the city was formally founded by conqueror

Diego de Losada Diego de Losada y Cabeza de Vaca (1511 – 1569) was a Spanish conquistador and the founder of Santiago de León de Caracas, the current capital of Venezuela. Losada was born in Rionegro del Puente, in what is now the province of Zamora. H ...

. As a ''mestizo'' (person of mixed race) he was able to blend in with the indigenous tribes of the coast physically and culturally. After murdering a local cacique he had to flee back to Margarita in 1558. He returned to the mainland in 1560, becoming lieutenant-general of

Valencia, Venezuela Valencia () is the capital city of Carabobo State and the third-largest city in Venezuela. The city is an economic hub that contains Venezuela's top industries and manufacturing companies. It is also the largest city in the Valencia-Maracay m ...

, before going back to Margarita to defend it against

Lope de Aguirre Lope de Aguirre (; 8 November 1510 – 27 October 1561) was a Basque Spanish conquistador who was active in South America. Nicknamed ''El Loco'' ("the Madman"), he styled himself "Wrath of God, Prince of Freedom." Aguirre is best known for his ...

. On a new expedition to the mainland he discovered a gold mine in the territory of the ''Teques'', in the Caracas region near present-day

Los Teques Los Teques ) is the capital of the state of Miranda and the municipality of Guaicaipuro Municipality. It is located in the capital region of north-central Venezuela. More specifically, southwest of Caracas, 10° 21' 00" N latitude and 67° 02' 3 ...

. Early attempts at settlement had to be abandoned in 1562 when an uprising led by

Guaicaipuro Cacique Guaicaipuro was a legendary native (indigenous) Venezuelan chief of both the Teques and Caracas tribes. Though known today as Guaicaipuro, in documents of the time his name was written Guacaipuro.http://www.saber.ula.ve/bitstream/handle/ ...

forced Fajardo to retreat again to Margarita, an expedition by Luis de Narváez to reinforce Fajardo having been destroyed. After setting out on a new expedition from Margarita in 1564, he was arrested and executed in Cumaná by Alonso Cobos after a sham trial. Cobos was arrested in Cumana by outraged residents of Margarita, and after a trial in Margarita was executed for the murder of Fajardo. mcnbiografias.com
Fajardo, Francisco (1530-1564)
/ref> The major highway of Caracas, the

Francisco Fajardo Highway The Francisco Fajardo Highway is the most important freeway of Caracas, connecting the west and east sides of the city. The national freeways and many of the avenues of Caracas are not designated with a system of codification or numbering; inste ...

, is named after him.'' El Universal'', 26 April 2010
The Mestizo Conqueror
/ref> Tunel El Paraiso

Books

* Juan Ernesto Montenegro (1974), ''Francisco Fajardo: origen y perfil del primer fundador de Caracas'', Caracas: Concejo Municipal del Distrito Federal

References

Spanish conquistadors 1564 deaths Year of birth unknown Year of birth uncertain {{Spain-bio-stub