2-612-889 - The Print Collector/Heritage Images

In 1511, Diego Velazquez set out from Hispaniola to conquer the island of Caobana (Cuba). He was preceded, however, by Hatuey, who fled Hispaniola with a party of four hundred in canoes and warned the inhabitants of Caobana about what to expect from the Spaniards.The people of Caobana could not believe Hatuey's message, and few joined him to fight. Hatuey resorted to guerrilla tactics against the Spaniards, and was able to confine them to their fort at Baracoa. Eventually the Spaniards succeeded in capturing him. On February 2, 1512,[2] he was tied to a stake and burned alive at Yara.Before he was burned, a priest asked him if he would accept Jesus and go to heaven. Las Casas recalled the reaction of the chief:[Hatuey], thinking a little, asked the religious man if Spaniards went to heaven. The religious man answered yes... The chief then said without further thought that he did not want to go there but to hell so as not to be where they were and where he would not see such cruel people. This is the name and honor that God and our faith have earned.Cigar card from the History of Cuba, Geografico Universal, Propaganda de los Cigarros Susini y La Corona, Tabacalera Cubana.