"The Spaniards told the Indians that they had a disease that only gold could heal. They demanded that the Cuban cacique Hatuey reveal the location of the gold. He denied that he had any hidden gold and as a result he was ordered to be burned alive.When the cacique was bound to the post, a Franciscan friar ... told him some of the matters of our Faith, which the chieftain had never before heard. . . . The padre told the cacique that if he wished to believe these things, he would go to Heaven ... but if not, he would go to Hell and suffer eternal torment and sorrow. The cacique ... asked the friar if Christians went to Heaven, and was told that the good ones did. The cacique, without further thought, said that he did not wish to go to Heaven but to Hell, so as not to be with Spaniards or see such cruel people."(Las Casas, The Devastation of the Indies: a Brief Account, p. 45).
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