The History of Cuba, vol. 1

by Willis Fletcher Johnson

CHAPTER IX

Velasquez had been Governor—technically Lieutenant-Governor under the Admiral, Diego Columbus, at Hispaniola—for more than thirteen years; save for the abortive and illegal administration of Zuazo. But after him gubernatorial terms were destined to be of much shorter duration, and marked with many vicissitudes. His nominal successor was appointed some time before his death. Whether in anticipation of his decease, or with the design of ousting him, is not clear. At any rate, at the middle of May, probably on May 20, 1524, Juan Altamarino was named by the King to be the next governor, for a term of two years and no more. He appears not to have been in any way identified with the island, though probably he had been associated with Diego Columbus in Hispaniola; and at the time of his appointment he was in peninsular Spain. He made no haste to go to Cuba and assume his office, wherefore it was necessary, upon the death of Velasquez a few weeks later, that some stop-gap governor should be named. Diego Columbus, who as Admiral might have made such temporary appointment, was also in Spain. In consequence, the Audiencia or supreme court of Hispaniola acted in his stead, and appointed Manuel de Rojas.

This forceful and patriotic man was a cousin of Velasquez, who had been sent by the latter to Spain in July, 1521, as his advocate before the King in the controversy with Cortez over Mexico. He had served for some time as Alcalde of Baracoa; he was a loyal friend of Velasquez, and a man of approved ability and integrity. He was also the first Cuban governor of Cuba. By that I mean that he was the first to regard Cuba as a separate entity, apart from Hispaniola and Mexico and even from Spain itself. Velasquez, vast as were his services, was never able to dissociate the interests of Cuba from those of Spain, or even from those of Mexico and other Spanish lands in this hemisphere, insular and continental; and had actually compromised the welfare of Cuba in grasping at the Viceroyalty of New Spain. Zuazo, if he is to be reckoned in the line of governors at all, was quite alien to Cuba. But Rojas was an insular patriot. He was of course entirely loyal to Spain. But that fact did not restrain him from developing an intense local patriotism. He regarded Cuba as a great enough country to command his entire attention and devotion. His policy was, Cuba for the Cubans; and he was the first of a line of Governors, not always unbroken, committed to that enlightened policy.

The island at this time, indeed, well merited such regard. It had been extensively settled, and its resources were beginning to be developed. Gold mining was profitably practised. Agriculture and cattle-raising had made great progress. Juan Mosquera, as the envoy or representative of the Cuban municipalities in Spain, had in February, 1523, secured from the King the first recognition of and encouragement for the sugar industry, which had already been established in Hispaniola, and which far-sighted men perceived to be capable of great things in Cuba. He had also, a year earlier, secured from the King grants of free trade between Cuba and all other Spanish colonies around the Caribbean, insular or continental; together with some reforms of the royalty system in gold mining and a comprehensive and orderly scheme of taxation for the building of roads and bridges and other necessary public works. In fact, Cuba was beginning to "find herself" and to show herself worthy of the affection and patriotism of her people.

The administration of Rojas was for the time, however, cut short. It had been ordered legally enough, but with the understanding that it was only temporary, pending the coming of Altamarino. Unfortunately the Hispaniola audiencia went too far. It also appointed Rojas to succeed Velasquez as repartidor of the natives, which it had no right to do, the power to make that appointment being reserved exclusively for the King himself. It does not appear that he misused his power, or even indeed that he exercised it at all as repartidor; though it is likely that his illegal appointment to that office caused some quite unmerited prejudice against him at Madrid. His administration of the governorship, which was legal, was brief. Altamarino entered Santiago de Cuba on March 14, 1525, and at once assumed office, and Rojas retired without demur and without reproach.

Altamarino had been commissioned as juez de residencia, to investigate the administration and conduct of Velasquez. That commission came of course from the King, but there is reason for suspecting that Diego Columbus had something to do with it. If he did not instigate it, he certainly heartily approved it. Now Velasquez had, at the time of Altamarino's appointment, been living and in office. But at the time when Altamarino actually assumed the powers and duties of the governorship and those of the juez de residencia, Velasquez had been dead and buried in the cathedral of Santiago for nine months. No such trifling circumstance as that was, however, to be permitted to cause any deviation of the course of Spanish official procedure; particularly when the latter was urged on by personal animus. Diego Columbus had desired and the King had commanded Velasquez to be investigated, and investigated he must be, alive or dead. His remains were not, it is true, to be disinterred and placed at the bar. But his name and reputation were made the target for all manner of attack. A proclamation was issued, inviting everybody who had anything against the former governor to make it known, publicly, fully and fearlessly, being assured of immunity for anything they might say.

In response there was a mighty flood of insinuations, complaints, accusations, calumnies. Nor did Altamarino content himself with this. He ransacked the archives of Cuba for all complaints, protests and what not that had ever been made, and if the makers of them could be found, as most of them could, he summoned them before his tribunal and required them to testify everything they could to the discredit of Velasquez. A similar inquisition was conducted into the affairs of all the chief office-holders and administrators under Velasquez. The result was what might have been expected, seeing that there was no opportunity for Velasquez to reply to the charges or to cross-examine the witnesses against him, or to produce other testimony in rebuttal. The founder of the Cuban State was charged with the acceptance of gifts, including a horse and a mule; with having levied and collected taxes without special authority from the King, though these were admittedly for road-building and other useful public purposes; with having participated in gambling games, though Rojas pointed out that his fellow gamblers were among the foremost members of the community; with having failed to check and punish blasphemous utterances; with having neglected to pay for some of the supplies which were taken for his Mexican expeditions; and with having administered justice without due regard to the letter of the statute law, which was not strange, seeing that he was not a lawyer. In his mortuary absence, he was found guilty, by default, and was condemned to pay heavy fines; which were collected from his heirs.

The dead lion was not, however, without his vengeance upon the jackals that would defile his sepulchre. The inquisition went too far, and too dearly disclosed its animus. A vigorous resentment and reaction soon arose, widespread and formidable; among the municipal councils and among the people. The kinsmen and friends of Velasquez were numerous, loyal to his memory, and powerful in influence. Gonzalo de Guzman, who had been the advocate of Velasquez at court at Madrid, not only against Cortez but also against Diego Columbus himself, and Nuñez de Guzman, the royal treasurer at Santiago de Cuba, were brothers-in-law of Velasquez; and Andres Duero, Pedro de Paz, and Diego de Soto were his steadfast friends. These were all men of wealth and influence. Like Rojas, they were Cuban colonists, and resented meddling in Cuban affairs by one whom they considered an outsider. They were, moreover, life members of the Municipal Council of Santiago, by appointment of the King, and were therefore independent of the Governor so far as their tenure of office was concerned, and removable only by the King.

They therefore arrayed themselves solidly against Altamarino, and rallied to the opposition the councils of the other municipalities and many of the principal men throughout the island. Altamarino replied by trumping up charges against several of the life councillors, of having expended public funds without authorization, and suspended them from their functions, or attempted to do so. He certainly could not remove them outright, and there was much question of his right to suspend them, unless during actual trial in court. The Guzmans and their allies retorted by obtaining from the court at Hispaniola an injunction restraining Altamarino from attending meetings of the Council, so that he would not know whether the suspended members continued their functions or not. Against this the Governor furiously protested, declaring that his predecessors had habitually attended all Council meetings, and he issued an order forbidding the Council of Santiago to transact any business whatever or indeed to meet officially, in his absence. Of course this brought matters to an impasse, which could be solved only through appeal to the King. This was made, and resulted in a royal decision in favor of the Councils, confirming the injunction of the Hispaniola tribunal against the Governor's intrusion into council meetings.

This, in the early autumn of 1525, was obviously the beginning of the end for Altamarino. A little later, in October of that year, the various municipal councils of the island united in sending Rodrigo Duran to Hispaniola, to prefer to the court there charges against Altamarino of a most serious character. They were indeed tantamount to his impeachment and a demand for his removal from the Governorship. The court hesitated to take action so radical, but considered the charges sufficiently important to warrant reference to the King. The result was that the King promptly decided against the Governor. Less than nine months after his actual assumption of office, and little more than a year and a half after his appointment to it, Altamarino was summarily removed from the place to which he had been appointed for two years.