\u201cIf Spaniards are in Heaven, I\u2019ll go to hell\u201d is Hatuey\u2019s last message to the world. It was a defiant stand against brutality, hypocrisy, and forced conversion. Sure, you may not know his name, but you should. Hatuey was a Ta\u00edno leader from Hispaniola\u2014what we now call the Dominican Republic and Haiti\u2014who was one of the very first Indigenous people to stand up and fight back against European colonization in the Americas.<\/p>\n
While history tends to celebrate the conquerors, it rarely remembers the few conquered who had the courage to resist. Hatuey was one of those few. We don\u2019t know much about his early life, but here\u2019s what we do know: when the Spanish tightened their grip on the Caribbean, Hatuey didn\u2019t run. He organized. He warned. He led.<\/p>\n
And, yes, his story is even on Netflix.<\/p>\n
Described by historian William Loren Katz as \u201cthe first prominent freedom fighter of the Americas,\u201d Hatuey\u2019s name does not appear in most textbooks. But his courage and his clarity in the face of conquest should be remembered.<\/p>\n
\u201cHatuey\u2019s armed resistance began on the island of Hispaniola during the age of Columbus, and probably increased after 1502 when a fleet of 30 Spanish ships brought the new Governor Nicolas de Ovando, hundreds of Spanish settlers, and an estimated 100 enslaved Africans to Hispaniola,\u201d the Zinn Education Project explains.<\/a><\/p>\n When Ovando complained to King Ferdinand that enslaved Africans \u201cfled among the Indians, taught them bad customs, and could not be captured,\u201d what he may have been describing, according to Katz, was \u201cthe formation of the first American rainbow coalition.\u201d Hatuey and his people welcomed the escaped Africans as allies, uniting against a shared enemy: a system rooted in gold, greed, and violence.<\/p>\n In 1511, Hatuey led 400 followers in canoes from Hispaniola to Cuba. His goal was urgent: to warn fellow Indigenous communities of what was coming, and to unite them in resistance.<\/p>\n In Cuba, his words were recorded by Dominican friar Bartolom\u00e9 de Las Casas. Hatuey warned that the Spaniards \u201cworship gold,\u201d \u201cfight and kill,\u201d and \u201cusurp our land and make us slaves.\u201d His message was direct and defiant: \u201cFor gold, slaves, and land they fight and kill; for these they persecute us, and that is why we have to throw them into the sea.\u201d<\/p>\n Hatuey was a warrior and a visionary organizer, leading what Katz calls \u201cthe first pan-American resistance struggle.\u201d<\/p>\n According to \u201cThe Mysteries of Latin America Podcast,\u201d hosted by Andrew Col\u00f3n<\/a>, Hatuey \u201cwas said to be a compelling public speaker, and the Spanish friar and missionary Bartolom\u00e9 de las Casas later attributed these words to Hatuey: \u2018These tyrants tell us they worship a god of peace and equality, but they usurp our lands and make us their slaves. They speak to us of an immortal soul and its eternal rewards and punishments, but they steal our belongings, seduce our women, and violate our daughters. Unable to match us in courage, these cowards cover themselves with iron that our weapons cannot break.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Hatuey began mobilizing resistance in Cuba, Spanish forces led by Diego Vel\u00e1squez landed. Among them was Hern\u00e1n Cort\u00e9s, who would later lead the conquest of Mexico. Hatuey responded with a strategy of guerrilla warfare, attacking, dispersing into the hills, and regrouping to strike again.<\/p>\n This strategy worked. For three months, Spanish forces were unable to move beyond their stronghold in Baracoa. They were outmaneuvered, uncertain, and afraid.<\/p>\n But eventually, the Spanish launched a full offensive that overwhelmed Hatuey\u2019s forces. He was captured and sentenced to death.<\/p>\n In 1512, Hatuey was led to a public execution. Before he was burned at the stake, history tells us that a Franciscan friar offered him salvation through Christianity. He explained that if Hatuey accepted the Christian faith, he could enter heaven.<\/p>\n Hatuey asked if Spaniards also went to heaven. When the friar said yes, Hatuey gave his final answer: he would rather go to hell.<\/p>\n In that single moment, Hatuey exposed the deep hypocrisy of his executioners. His words were not just a rejection of forced conversion\u2014they were a rejection of a system that claimed moral authority while enacting unspeakable violence.<\/p>\n Today, Hatuey is remembered in Cuba as a national hero. A statue in Baracoa honors him. And the story of his execution is portrayed in the Spanish movie Tambi\u00e9n la Lluvia<\/em> (Even the Rain<\/em>)<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s even more powerful than the final scenes of \u2018Braveheart\u2019 or \u2018Gladiator,\u2019\u201d the The Mysteries of Latin America Podcast says.<\/p>\n \u201cTambien la Lluvia,\u201d with Hatuey\u2019s lost story, is available on Netflix<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post \u2018If Spaniards Are in Heaven, I\u2019ll Go to Hell\u2019: Hatuey\u2019s Last Stand Against Colonial Rule<\/a> appeared first on Nuestro Stories<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u201cIf Spaniards are in Heaven, I\u2019ll go to hell\u201d is Hatuey\u2019s last message to the world. It was a defiant stand against brutality, hypocrisy, and forced conversion. Sure, you may not know his name, but … <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[148],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nA Mission Across the Sea<\/strong><\/h2>\n
Three Months of Defiance in Baracoa<\/strong><\/h2>\n
A Final Act of Defiance<\/strong><\/h2>\n
The Legacy of Hatuey<\/h2>\n