Francisco Fajardo

Who is Francisco Fajardo?

Francisco Fajardo was a Spanish conquistador active in Venezuela. He was a rare example of a mestizo conquistador.

Fajardo was the son of a Spanish lieutenant of the same name and an indigenous Indian woman, Isabel of the Guaiquerí. In 1555 to 1557 he made several expeditions from Margarita to conquer the Caracas tribe around the valleys of present-day Caracas, even before the city was formally founded by conqueror Diego de Losada. As a mestizo he was able to blend in with the indigenous tribes of the coast physically and culturally. After murdering a local cacique he had to flee back to Margarita in 1558.

He returned to the mainland in 1560, becoming lieutenant-general of Valencia, Venezuela, before going back to Margarita to defend it against Lope de Aguirre. On a new expedition to the mainland he discovered a gold mine in the territory of the Teques, in the Caracas region near present-day Los Teques. Early attempts at settlement had to be abandoned in 1562 when an uprising led by Guaicaipuro forced Fajardo to retreat again to Margarita, an expedition by Luis de Narváez to reinforce Fajardo having been destroyed.