Pedro de Ursúa

Pedro de Ursúa (1526–1561) was a Spanish Navarrese Basque conquistador from Baztan (Kingdom of Navarre) in the 16th century. In Panama, Ursúa subdued a Cimarron (ex-slave) revolt by tricking Cimarron leader Bayano into coming unprepared to negotiate a truce, but then captured him and sent him back to King Philip II of Spain. Ursúa later searched the Amazon region for El Dorado with Lope de Aguirre. Aguirre, commonly portrayed as a monomaniac, assassinated Ursúa: perhaps because Ursúa wouldn't let him take his mistress on the expedition, perhaps merely as a ploy for power.
A fictional version of Ursúa and Aguirre's story is depicted in the Werner Herzog film, Aguirre, der Zorn Gottes and in the Carlos Saura film El Dorado.
The novel Ursúa by William Ospina has become one of the main references concerning Pedro de Ursúa. The book provides details about the life of Ursúa and makes a general account of the events happening in the New World during the mid 16th century.