Lago de Maracaibo: Cacao, the Jewish Faith and the Inquisition

In the seventeenth century, cacao was traded between the Kingdom of New Spain (Mexico) and Venezuela. There is a record of a trade between Antonio Mendez Chillon, a *crypto-Jew from Portugal who, in 1629 landed in Mexico from Angola as a slave trader. and Antonio de Orozco, a purchasing agent from the Maracaibo coastal town of San Antonio de Gibraltar. The consignment, consisting of 677.5 millares of cacao, was confiscated, along with all other money and property by the Inquisition after Mendez Chillon was arrested for Heresy, his crime being his Jewish faith. The frigate carrying the cacao landed in the port of Veracruz on 9 September 1645. Mendez Chillon entered the Inquisition jail 13 days later on 22 September.

After confiscating all assets found at Mendez Chillon’s home after his incarceration (including several slaves), the Inquisition expended a considerable amount of time and expense tracking down the rest of Mendez Chillon’s assets, including the inheritances that he left to his two children. His daughter, Maria de Zaure, received 6,000 pesos (a considerable amount), and was placed in the Regina Coeli, a old and prestigious order of nuns. Half of the amount was dowry for when Maria would enter the order at age eighteen. The nuns of Regina Coeli were famous for their fondness for chocolate, which earned them the nickname monjas chocolateras.

Juan Chillon, “mullatto,: (as designed in the legal documents), was the son of Mendez Chillon and Lucretcia, a slave from Angola. Mendez Chillon brought Lucretcia to Mexico in 1645 and later freed her. Their son was to receive 4,000 pesos when he “reached a competent age.” He was 12 years old at the time of Mendez Chillon’s arrest.

On 22 November 1645, Inquisition attorneys initiated the confiscation of the inheritances which were being handled by trustees.

Antonio Mendez Chillon’s name is found on list dated 1647 which includes the names of other crypto-Jews destined for deportation to Spain. Included is a physical description of Antonio Mendez Chillon:
“Short in body, graying, with large eyes and good beard and mustache. Ladino, fifty-three years of age.

The Cacao World Map Link: Lake Maracaibo, Venezuela

source: Ferry, Robert, Trading Cacao: a View from Veracruz, 1629 – 1645, 24/01/2006
Nuevo Mundo http://nuevomundo.revues.org/index1430.html 17 Apr 2009

*crypto-jew, crypto-judaism: secret adherence to Judaism