Pirate Cofresí Captured: Caribbean Lawlessness Ends
Spanish naval forces cornered the pirate Roberto Cofres off the coast of Puerto Rico on March 5, 1825, ending a five-year campaign during which he had attacked merchant vessels throughout the Caribbean with impunity. Cofres was unusual among Caribbean pirates of the early nineteenth century because he operated during an era when piracy was supposed to have ended. The golden age of Caribbean piracy had concluded a century earlier, but Cofres exploited the power vacuum created by Latin American independence wars to raid shipping between Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, and the Virgin Islands. He was captured, tried by a military tribunal, and executed by firing squad in Aguada, Puerto Rico, on March 29, 1825. His death marked the definitive end of significant pirate activity in the Caribbean, as newly independent nations and colonial powers established permanent naval patrols along major trade routes.
March 5, 1825
201 years ago
Key Figures & Places
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