Mexico
Gaspar Yanga—often simply Yanga or Nyanga (May 14, 1545 – 1618) was an African who led a maroon colony of slaves in the highlands near Veracruz, Mexico (then New Spain) during the early period of Spanish colonial rule. He successfully resisted a Spanish attack on the colony in 1609. The maroons continued their raids on Spanish settlements. Finally in 1618, Yanga achieved an agreement with the colonial government for self-rule of the maroon settlement. It was later called San Lorenzo de los Negros, and also San Lorenzo de Cerralvo.
In the late 19th century, Yanga was named as a “national hero of Mexico” and “El Primer Libertador de las Americas”.[3] In 1932 the settlement he formed, located in today’s state of Veracruz, was renamed as Yanga in his honor.
