Rescates was a term for the

smuggling Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...

trade in the sixteenth-century Spanish

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...

. The word is derived from the Spanish verb rescatar, "to ransom" or "to rescue." One of the earliest records that cited this phenomenon was a document written in November 1598 by Baltzar de Castro, a royal standard-bearer of the city 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 ...

, which described a plan to address the rescates menace in

Hispaniola Hispaniola (, also ; es, La Española; Latin and french: Hispaniola; ht, Ispayola; tnq, Ayiti or Quisqueya) is an island in the Caribbean that is part of the Greater Antilles. Hispaniola is the most populous island in the West Indies, and th ...

. He stated that "from the port of Santo Domingo alone, more than a million ucat's worthof sugar, ginger, and other products... not counting the gold, silver, and pearls" were traded and contributed to the royal coffers. However, such prosperous state of affairs collapsed due to the rescates and that "all the ''vecinos'', the church, the monasteries, and the hospitals, were so poor and were invaded and robbed." An account claimed that the smuggling activities was ambiguous since the contraband trading relationship involved willing participation on the local side while, in some, it was coerced. For instance, some local functionaries called ''alcalde ordinarios'' sent to investigate rescate ports were also involved in the trade as well.

References

* Wright, Irene A. "Rescates: With Special Reference to Cuba, 1599–1610". ''Hispanic American Historical Review'', Vol. 3, No. 3 (August 1920), 333–361. Smuggling {{Hist-stub