African abolitionist and colonial leader, Primer Libertador de America
Gaspar Yanga was an African known for being the leader of a maroon colony of slaves in the highlands near Veracruz, Mexico (then New Spain) during the early period of Spanish colonial rule. In 1570, he led the escape of his fellow slaves into nearby mountains. There they lived for nearly 40 years, arming and supplying themselves by means of raids on Spanish colonists, successfully resisting a Spanish attack on the colony in 1609.
