Santiago Martinez Concha

Don Blas de Lezo Y Olavarrieta Santiago Martinez Concha

No one, absolutely no one has more courage and is not bigger as a warrior of the sea than Blas de Lezo and Olavarrieta, born in Pasajes, on February 3, 1689 - in Guipúzcoa - in Euskera -, which is a Spanish province and historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country-, and died in Cartagena de Indias, in Nueva Granada, on September 7, 1741, just under 4 months after the Cartagena site was completed, with 52 years of age. He was called "half man" because he had lost one leg, one arm and one eye in different battles. He did not die from any of his injuries but was defeated by the plague that was generated with the decomposed bodies of thousands of mostly English bodies and mercenaries hooked by Admiral Vernon in Jamaica. It was one of the greatests defeats of the English fleet ever. But two hundred years later, a direct descendant of one of the Barnabas that defended Cartagena fighting side by side with Blas de Lezo against Admiral Vernon is the new hero in the second part of this book. Through his adventures the jungles of "el Choco" come alive and the author offers an excellent description of this part of Colombia, unknown to many, taking a new dimension, considering that its biodiversity is the richest in the world. A place that hides incredible dangers and where the guerrilla warfare has taken many lives. Here is a memory of the terrible tragedy that took place in Bojaya taking the lives of many in that town. At the end, a big surprise awaits the reader.