The Galley Slave Who Forged a Rebel Army: Benkos Biohó's War

Before Toussaint, before Nat Turner, an African prince turned galley slave named Benkos Biohó led the most durable maroon rebellion in the Americas. In the early 1600s, he escaped a slave ship in the Caribbean port of Cartagena de Indias, fled into the impenetrable mangrove swamps of the Darién Gap, and built a fortress community called San Basilio de Palenque. Biohó trained his fighters in guerrilla tactics honed by the Mande warrior traditions of West Africa, raided Spanish supply routes, and even negotiated a peace treaty that recognized his community's freedom — a treaty Spain later betrayed. This episode explores how Biohó's War, the Palenque de la Matuna, and the legacy of the cimarrones shaped Colombia's hidden history of Black resistance. We'll follow his military campaigns, the internal politics of the palenque, and the final betrayal that led to his execution, but also how his name lived on and how San Basilio de Palenque still exists today. #BenkosBiohó #PalenqueDeLaMatuna #CartagenaDeIndias #SanBasilioDePalenque #Maroons #Cimarrones #SlaveRevolt #Colombia #NewGranada #AfricanDiaspora #GuerrillaWarfare #Mande #AtlanticSlaveTrade #History #FexingoHistory #Resistance #GalleySlave #17thCentury Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo