Juan Fermín de Huidobro (died 1689) was a Spanish military engineer who was Governor of

Margarita Province Margarita Province (1525 - 1864) was one of the provinces of the Spanish Empire, then one of the provinces of Gran Colombia, and later one of the Provinces of Venezuela. In Gran Colombia it belonged to the Orinoco Department which was created in 1 ...

, in what is now Venezuela, between 1681 and 1683.

Early career

Juan Fermín de Huidobro was born in

La Asunción La Asunción () is a city in Venezuela. The capital of Nueva Esparta state (made up of three islands), it lies on Margarita Island in the Caribbean Sea, off the South American mainland. It is inland from Porlamar and is in a genuine colonial set ...

, Isla Margarita, and joined the royal army at an early age. He was of

criolla Criolla is a genre of Cuban music which is closely related to the music of the Cuban Coros de Clave and a genre of Cuban popular music called Clave. The Clave became a very popular genre in the Cuban vernacular theater and was created by compose ...

descent. In 1664 he was sent to serve in

Trinidad Trinidad is the larger and more populous of the two major islands of Trinidad and Tobago. The island lies off the northeastern coast of Venezuela and sits on the continental shelf of South America. It is often referred to as the southernmos ...

, then in 1668 to

New Granada New Granada may refer to various former national denominations for the present-day country of Colombia. *New Kingdom of Granada, from 1538 to 1717 *Viceroyalty of New Granada, from 1717 to 1810, re-established from 1816 to 1819 *United Provinces of ...

. From there he was appointed to Guayana as lieutenant governor. He returned from Guayana to Margarita, holding various military positions and amassing considerable wealth. Fermín was appointed ''maese de campo'' (military commander) of Margarita in 1677. Governor Juan Muñoz Gadea commissioned him to start construction of the Santa Rosa de la Eminencia castle in La Asunción, on the site of the old San Bernardo fortress. The two men fell out, and work stopped until 1680. Fermín visited Spain, and on 15 June 1680 was authorized to return to Margarita. That year the

Council of the Indies The Council of the Indies ( es, Consejo de las Indias), officially the Royal and Supreme Council of the Indies ( es, Real y Supremo Consejo de las Indias, link=no, ), was the most important administrative organ of the Spanish Empire for the Amer ...

ordered him to build a fort with four bastions and a watchtower in Puerto de la Mar, now

Porlamar ) Pueblo de La Mar ( en, Village by the Sea) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Panoramic , image_flag = Bandera santiagomarino.jpg , image_seal = , pushpin_map =Venezuela , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivis ...

Governor of Margarita

Muñoz Gadea antagonized the local people with his demands, including restrictions on trade, and a group led by Fermín arranged to suspend him from office. Muñoz remained on the island, but Fermín took over control. Fermín was appointed Governor of Margarita on 17 May 1681. As governor, Fermín inspected the defenses of the island and the coast of

Cumaná Cumaná () is the capital city of Venezuela's Sucre State. It is located east of Caracas. Cumaná was one of the first cities founded by Spain in the mainland Americas and is the oldest continuously-inhabited Hispanic-established city in South ...

. He suggested demolishing and relocating the tower of Porlamar, and demolishing the castle and the main church of Cumaná, as being cheaper than repairing them. He continued to work on the Santa Rosa castle, contributing some of his own money to the effort. On 6 February 1683 Fermín reported the completion of the Castillo de Santa Rosa. He then asked for a transfer to another location. He was about to complete the tower at Porlamar when he was arrested on 19 September 1683 by Muñoz de Gadea, whom the Council of the Indies had restored as governor.

Later career

Fermín appealed to the ''Real Audiencia of

Santo Domingo , total_type = Total , population_density_km2 = auto , timezone = AST (UTC −4) , area_code_type = Area codes , area_code = 809, 829, 849 , postal_code_type = Postal codes , postal_code = 10100–10699 (Distrito Nacional) , websi ...

''. They sent judge Gregorio San Millán to the island, but Muñoz forced him to leave. A letter arrived from Spain on 28 March 1684 in which Muñoz Gadea was formally confirmed as governor. The ''Real Audiencia'' sent judge Fernando Araujo y Rivera to Margarita, who arrived on 5 July 1688 with a body of troops. Araujo arrested Muñoz and wanted to restore Fermín, but was opposed by the people of the island, who had many complaints with his behavior while in office. Araujo now started a trial of Fermín, who died the next year.

References

Citations Sources * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Fermin de Huidobro, Juan 1689 deaths Governors of Margarita Province Year of birth unknown People from La Asunción