When the Spanish first arrived in the Caribbean over 500 years ago, the idea that indigenous peoples might possess rights was given scant attention. The conquistadores approached many of the indigenous communities with a priest who read a document called the Requiremento, a demand that the people come forth with their bodies and souls and all their property and offer these to the service of the Spanish crown or the Spanish would attack. It was read in Latin as prelude to an orgy of rape, plunder, and genocide.
It wasn’t until the middle of the 16th century that a bishop, Bartolome de Las Casas, championed the idea of some rights of the Indians before the Council of the Indies. Although that body agreed in principle that indigenous peoples should not be abused, the conquest continued unabated.
