Bartolome de las Casas

[Knowledge 6 6 6]

I believe he came from the Spanish empire to Latin America and the West Indies to set up various plantations. Once he arrived, he realized he couldnt continue exploiting the people, thus spent his life fighting for the natives of this particular part of the 'new world'.

He also wrote a book called, 'The Destruction of the West Indies'.

What do you think about de las Casas?

[Hampton]

I think that the best thing that came out of him writing that book was that it was a clear example of what was going on in the islands when the Spanish and others came and conquered. It was not the pretty tale of Columbus coming over and making friends, it was him coming over and putting these people into slavery and killing 90% of them for gold and other things.

[pandora]

Thank goodness someone finally recognized Bartome de las Casas,
He worked in Chiapas with the Mayan population a hundreds of years ago, and is one of the founders of Liberation Theology.

He lived from 1474-1566, and petitioned Charles V on behalf of the Indigenous people of the New World.
He worked originally in Hispanola and then Cuba, as a lawyer and friar he represented the chief Hatuey against the Conquistador Gonzalo Ferndezde Oviedo to no avail, the only thing permitted Hatuey was to be baptized before burning, before hand Hatuey asked if he were baptized would he have to see whites in heaven, upon hearing yes he preferred not to be baptized because whites were so cruel he did not want to see them again. Upon realizing this he began to work against the laws of encomienda that so enslaved the Indigenous with limited results [the Nueves Leyes de encomienda in 1542 were passed due to his interference but rarely obeyed]

In Chipas realizing the people he was working with were starving he swore to never eat another meal without feeding a child everyday.

By the end of his life he was feeding thousands, he petitioned the church on behalf of the Mayans as being Christian citizens and human beings and therefore worthy of all the rights of other residents of the church.

As a result of this weathly landowners despised him, unfortunately he also endorsed the importation of Africans for labor, but not as slaves but as free men with rights to help the strain on indigenous tribes under the lash.

He is most widely known because there is an association in Chiapas and San Cristobel de las Casas is named for him. The organization known as Derechos Hermanos de Bartolomes de los Casas or FRAYBA which has worked as mediators between the EZLN and Zapatista and the Mexican government bases it's philosophy off of him.

Members now are working as witnesses in Mayan villages against abuses by the Mexican military, and in some ways they receive worse abuse by officials and paramilitary then those suspected of being Zapatista. In fact currently the owners of the Frayba took out the section of the webpage which would classify it for search engines. They wish to be silent for now, in respect of this I won't list there web site here.

The leader of FRAYBA, Bishop Samuel Ruiz Garcia, who worked with EZLN for paz during the uprising of 1994 has been accused by local landowners of being a "red bishop"

More info on Bartolome de las Casas can be found here.
http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/history/jtu...tbartolome.html (http://www.mexconnect.com/mex_/history/jtuck/jtbartolome.html)

This has been edited to much advertising here all of a sudden, you guys should have let us know if you needed money.

[Leninist thug]

It is due to de Las Casas that the story of the execution of Hatuey is still told to the children of Eastern Cuba

http://www.cuba-junky.com/cuba/hatuey.html