Against the foregoing systematically(?) by the detractors of the glorious Spanish conquest and colonization in America, I must say that captain Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa belonged to a noble family originally from Portugal, where his third(? gr gr gr ?) illustrious grandfather, also called Vasco Porcallo, being "Commander higher(?)" of the Order of Avis, was responsible for the castle and fortress of Villaviciosa, and when the war [came] arguing for Don Juan II of Castile against Master of the Order of Avis, was always Porcallo who stood by the Spanish King. Shortly thereafter, the Portuguese lost the battle of Albujarrota, don Vasco settled in Caceres, Spain, giving rise to an illustrious offspring which won in 1460 the title of Count of Feria, which was elevated to the duchy September 28, 1567 by royal writ of Don Philip II, in response to the many services provided to the Crown by enlightened members of this illustrious lineage.
In the year 1511, Admiral Don Diego Colón and Muñiz, the first Duke of Veragua, governor of the island Hispaniola, instructed the courageous and honest Spanish captain, Don Diego Velálzquez de Cuellar, to conquer and colonize the island of Cuba, which brought to our country, among his men of confidence, the father Bartolomé de las Casas, Hernán Cortés, Francisco Morales, Francisco Montejo, Rodrigo Tamayo, Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa and others who are prominent figures in our history.
After having helped the governor Velázquez de Cuellar very effectively in the pacification of the island of Cuba, Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa, was established in the villa of Trinidad, where he with limited authority, founded the additional villages of Santa María de Puerto Príncipe, Sancti Spiritus and San Juan de los Remedios's Cay. In 1518 he was commissioned to appease the riots raised among neighbors of Sancti Spiritus, which requested the resignation of the mayor, don Hernán López, from office and having "thrown one of the sword(?)", Porcallo gave "stabbing(?)" of a full council. He then turned to the full Council, having also repelled the aggression of a Regidor who attacked him in the same church. He sequestered all the assets of the City Council and referred over as prisoners(?) all its members to Santiago de Cuba to be tried by a resident judge, licensed-attorney Zuazo, who disapproved of everything done by Porcallo, because he had erected himself as the landlord and lord of the region.
Shortly thereafter, Don Diego Velázquez de Cuellar chose among several famous captains of the Conquest that were under his command, Don Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa, to complete the conquest of New Spain (Mexico), but he refused the appointment, advising the Governor that the appointment should be entrusted to Hernán Cortés, Mayor of Santiago de Cuba, "and when he betrayed wanting to make the conquest on their own(?)", mocked the governor turned to Porcallo to go with a new expedition against the ungrateful Cortes, but Porcallo again refused the commission, which caused Velázquez de Cuellar to resort to using his lieutenant in Havana, Pedro de Barba, to attempt the arrest of the traitor "to his tenure?" in this town, whose order was avoided by Barba pretext of lack of resources, ending with escape of the cunning Cortés. Vasco Porcallo continued living in opulence in Trinidad, "saving the Armed that played on our island"(?), marching to new discoveries and achievements, as he did in 1527 with the gift of the master of Pánfilo Narvaez, and years later, together with his son, Don Lorenzo Gomez Juarez Figueroa, accompanied with the rank of lieutenant general advance [advised?] don Hernando de Soto, governor of the island of Cuba, to the conquest of Florida, landing in the Bay of the Holy Spirit (now Tampa Bay), 31 May 1539. It was a wonderful expedition financed largely by Porcallo, but he spent little time in Florida, because of his advanced age and the failure that he foresaw, and which killed the brave leader, Porcallo returned to Cuba to send additional relief, leaving instead referred(?) to his son. Lord of the Treasury "Savannah" Porcallo made a great fortune with his siboney slaves and when the village of Santa María de Puerto Príncipe was burned by the Indians, generously helped to lift the hamlet in the party today is the city of Camagüey Je vous were assigned thousands of Indians, which enslaved and sold largely to overseas. Also participating in the conquering of America were two brothers of Captain Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa called Don Lope Mendoza and Don Alonso de Sotomayor, which, the first, won the valuable rank of captain of the Conquest, very precious at the time, because Nobility staff gave very classy, and that's why at present Hispanic Americans are loving these studies, because they feel very proud when they can justify that they descended from any of these famous masters, and the second, don Alonso de Sotomayor, was also a captain of the glorious conquest, and consists, by the year 1528 lay in Trinidad, where as Master Field [Commander? Officer?] joined the expedition organized by captain don Pánfilo Narvaez to conquer Florida, where he died of starvation as Sotomayor, tasajo[?] and done, it ate his partner Esquivel [resorting to cannibalism while attempting to survive]. (Collection of unpublished documents relating to the island of Cuba, published by the Royal Spanish Academy. Year 1888, volume II). In my genealogical research I found some documents that say that Porcallo died in 1550 in the town of Puerto Príncipe and was buried under the high altar of his parish. It appears that he was married to Donna Elvira Mendoza, but I cannot assure if she was Spanish or a daughter of some powerful Indian chieftain, but what if it is true that most of their children, or perhaps all, he had with Indians? For several informational nobility processed at the beginning of the seventeenth century with the authorities in Puerto Príncipe, I am told that their children were: Leonor de la Cerda, Teresa de la Cerda and Casenda Sotomayor, Maria Figueroa, Elvira Lasso de la Vega, and Christopher Vasco Porcallo of Figueroa and Lorenzo Gomez Juarez Figueroa, who originate the oldest and noblest families of Báyamo, Camagüey, Trinidad, Sanctí Spíritus and Remedios, and why they have found in those documents the Guerra, Miranda, Varona, Socarrás and other members belonging to families of no less lineages. 15 Aug 1948