Gregorio Guazo y Calderón Fernández de la Vega (1668-c. 1730) was the colonial governor of Cuba for the Kingdom of Spain from 1717 to 1724. During his tenure as governor, he fought a battle against Caribbean Pirates in addition to Great Britain's intruding Royal Navy.
Biography[]
Son of don Alonso Guazo de Aguilar and doña Mariana Calderón, he was born in Aguilar de Campo, close to Palencia, Leon, Spain. Like many nobles, he had studied first in a seminary run by monks, then in the famous University of Salamanca, and he intended to dedicate his life more to the diplomacy. He married doña Rosa Catalina del Torre, the daughter of a Spanish diplomat who had spent some time in England and had married an English lady, in 1697. When the War of the Spanish Succession started, his sense of honour requested him to enroll in the army, and in 1705 he received the Order of Santiago for his military deeds, together with the rank of commander. He further achieved victory after victory, and once the War of Spanish succession ended, he remained in the military, reaching the rank of brigade general.
In 1717 he was appointed Governor of Cuba, replacing the previous one Gomez Mazaver Ponce de Leon, who had attracted the people’s wrath and riots in the streets. The Spanish Government’s orders affected negatively the colony’s interests, causing rebellions, while the Governor increased his power and authority, being the chief of military forces, of justice and administration in Cuba. Don Guazo took over the position in Cuba on 23 June 1718, when he arrived with military forces intended to suppress the rebellion, which he did successfully. His wife died shortly before, so he brought his daughter with him.
The first measure he enforced was establishing again the tobacco monopoly, against the protests of the Cuban people. To punish them, the Governor delayed buying the harvest of tobacco, given the fact that only the Spanish Government had the monopoly on buying it, and the contracting house in Sevilla and Cadiz. The general trading monopoly was further enforced in a new way, as the Governor let himself persuaded by the rich people in Havana to set up "Real Compañía de Comercio de La Habana", which had full trade monopoly and established prices according to their own will – very cheap for the exported fruit and extremely high for flour and other basic products imported from Spain. Therefore, the Governor was not too popular (or rather hated) by locals. The harsh monopoly was also the reason why the smuggling of tobacco, sugar, coffee and other local products with the neighbouring colonies pertaining to other countries became more fruitful for the daring ones, and why the Governor was sending ships to hunt pirates and smugglers alike. During his tenure as governor, pirates such as Edward Kenway, Adewale, and Anne Bonny visited Havana on many occasions, and several Spanish warships never returned home due to their actions.
Guazo took large measures to reduce piracy, fighting against the buccaneers from several fortresses around the Caribbean including the powerful Cabo de Cruz fortress on Cuba itself. However, by October 1722, all of these forts had fallen and the pirates were free to enter Havana as they pleased. Governor Guazo made an example of pirates by having their skeletons kept in gibbets in front of the Havana Fortress and at the harbor, scaring off any pirates with ideas against the Spanish government. However, his attempts to capture the Assassin Order hideout on the island failed, as they were held off by Rhona Dinsmore and Edward Kenway.
After being recalled from the position of Governor of Cuba in 1724, he was appointed Governor of Mérida, Extremadura, Spain, and later field marshal (mariscal de campo). In this position, in 1727, he sent 3,000 soldiers to chase away Rear Admiral Francis Hosier’s British invading troops.