FROM THE PRESIDENT:
I do not know how many of you saw in "Letters to the editor", the letter
that was printed in the newspaper UT- San Diego last Sunday June 5,
2016. This is the article (the newspaper limits the letter to no more than
150 words):
Explorer deserves a statue in Balboa Park
The UT newspaper (in San Diego California) has published several articles
and responses from its readers saying that Vasco Nuñez de Balboa was a
terrible Spanish explorer, a point of view that is not supported by the historic letters.
House of Spain, Casa de España in Balboa Park has made an English translation of the letter of
Balboa from the year 1515 to the King of Spain Ferdinand II, where Balboa protests the
treatment of rape, murder and slavery, that the natives receive for the personal benefit of the
governors, captains and soldiers. He urges the King to punish and/or take the guilty out of these
lands and which changes the way that these people treat the natives.
People interested in seeing the translation of this letter can make an appointment, it is perhaps
the first time that human rights are recognized in the new world.
Balboa struggled to establish a secure and sustainable village in Panama, and angered his
compatriots, whom they murdered - a martyr for human rights, as he saw it.
In 1913 the founders of Balboa Park wanted to put a statue of Vasco Núñez de Balboa, in the
park that bears his name. The statue would also honor millions of Hispanics and descendants of
indigenous people in our region.
Jesus Benayas
President
House of Spain, Casa de España in San Diego
People interested in reading the letter of eight pages in Spanish or English can pass by the
casita and read it. They can also view a pdf copy by going to the web www.houseofspainsd.com
under INFORMATION, OFFICIAL DOCUMENTS, OTHER DOCUMENTS.
Greetings
Jesus