Urracá

Urracá or Ubarragá Maniá Tigrí (died 1531) was an Ngäbe chieftain or cacique in the region of present-day Panama who fought effectively against the Spanish conquistadors. The Spaniards captured Urracá when he met them to discuss a peace treaty, caged him, and sent him to the Caribbean port of Nombre de Dios, intending to send him to Spain. He escaped, and for "the next eleven years", with his band of men, conducted guerrilla warfare against the conquistadors, living and hiding in the hills, ultimately dying from natural causes in 1531. Urracá commenced one of the first "sustained guerrilla wars in Latin America[n]" history and is remembered as el caudillo amerindio de Veragua (the Amerindian leader of Veragua) and adversary of the Spanish Empire, the great resistance leader of Panama. He has been honored by his image on the centesimo, the smallest-denomination coin of Panama.

==History== Shortly after the foundation of Panama City in 1519, the Spanish Governor-Captain Pedrarias Dávila began moving into the country, hoping to find a gold-rich village. The Spanish conquered the Veragua province, which is particularly rich in gold mining. Urracá's territory was in the vicinity of the present town of Nata de los Caballeros, founded on 20 May 1520 to serve as a basis for exploration of the rest of Central America. Urracá and his forces bravely faced the Spanish expedition for almost nine years, and repeatedly defeated the conquistadors, led by Gaspar de Espinosa. When Espinosa was called back to Panama City by Pedrarias Dávila, Francisco de Compañón was commissioned to his post. Urracá attacked the Spanish warriors, but Compañón sent a messenger to report to Panama City to seek aid, and Pedrarias sent a relief battalion led by Hernán Ponce de León.