About: Roberto Cofresí in popular culture

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Regarded as the last successful pirate of the Caribbean during the 19th century's suppression era, the life of Roberto Cofresí has been romanticized in his native Puerto Rico and neighboring nations. Already possessing a reputation as hard to capture in life, the freebooter became a symbol for an archipelago immersed in the political unrest caused by its status as a colony within the struggling Spanish Empire. Under these circumstances, Cofresí was soon characterized as a benign and generous thief. In a similar trend, he was also associated with the Puerto Rican independence movement of the era. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the abundant oral tradition led to a subgenre of folk hero literature which depicted Cofresí as a benevolent force and contradicted the other pirate-rel

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  • Regarded as the last successful pirate of the Caribbean during the 19th century's suppression era, the life of Roberto Cofresí has been romanticized in his native Puerto Rico and neighboring nations. Already possessing a reputation as hard to capture in life, the freebooter became a symbol for an archipelago immersed in the political unrest caused by its status as a colony within the struggling Spanish Empire. Under these circumstances, Cofresí was soon characterized as a benign and generous thief. In a similar trend, he was also associated with the Puerto Rican independence movement of the era. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the abundant oral tradition led to a subgenre of folk hero literature which depicted Cofresí as a benevolent force and contradicted the other pirate-related works of the time, including the well known Treasure Island and Peter Pan. A century later, this contrast became the subject of sociological study. Research to uncover the historical figure behind these myths has also been published by authors linked to the Puerto Rican Genealogical Society, which creates a parallel to this narrative. While in prison, Cofresí claimed to possess at least 4,000 pieces of eight still accessible after the authorities confiscated his ship, mentioning them in an unsuccessful attempt to bribe an officer in exchange for his freedom. This made him one of the few pirates that are implied to have kept a hidden cache, a rare occurrence despite its prominence in popular culture due to their tendency to divide and misspend the earnings, and fueled legends of buried treasures waiting to be found. All sort of objects serve as the subjects of these tales, from magic guitars made of solid gold to chests that are bound to chains that emerge from the sea. This tendency had extended to Hispaniola by the end of the 19th century, with a novel claiming that the island served as the locale of such treasures. During the 20th century, the destination marketing organizations in the region took notice of them and began exploiting the association of certain places and the pirate to attract tourism. Raising his profile during this time period also led to several non-profit homages. Cofresí has since served as the namesake of several sport teams and events, vehicles, companies, alcoholic brands and hotels. Figures such as Alejandro Tapia y Rivera, Luis Lloréns Torres, Rafael Hernández Marín and Juan Emilio Viguié worked to adapt the legends to other mediums, including plays, popular music and films. Cofresí is also the only pirate of the pre-flight era to have a copycat crime in his stead recorded during the 20th century. This happened when his name was employed as an alias during the first act of sky piracy involving an American airline. An entirely different class of myths was created by those that were directly affected by his actions, be it politically or economically. The first to vilify the pirate and his deeds were the merchants that suffered severe losses during the peak of his career, who described him as nothing more than a tyrant. A mistranslated letter that actually reports the death of a crewmember, but misidentifies it as "Cofresin", may have been the catalyst behind several legends that grant Cofresí a connection to the supernatural. These come in two classes, those that portray him as being nearly impossible to eliminate, employing magic to survive lethal wounds such as being stabbed in the heart or even reincarnating if successfully killed, and those that grant extraordinary powers to his ghost. A variety of reasons are given for these abilities, from a pact with the Devil to the practice of witchcraft or mysticism. Some curses are also associated to his figure, of which at least one is purported to have been fulfilled with the shipwreck of the U.S.S. Grampus. Of these, most concern those that loot the treasures that he left behind and usually conclude with the victim dead or dragged to Davy Jones's locker. (en)
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  • Axe in hand, Cofresí, followed by his crew, jumped with agility and quickly onto the boarded ship and attacked body by body the defenders of the brick. They were not prepared for an attack with a cold weapon. With the sound of three or four shots the tweendeck was clear. The sailors of the brigantine took refuge in the hold. Cofresí quickly seized the ship bringing death to the helmsman and a few sailors that remained on deck. Afterwards they closed the hatches trapping the rest of the brick's crew below deck. The Danish captain was besides the sail's pole, in a pool of blood, his head opened by an axe ... (en)
  • Roberto, because you are a symbol of our race, and through its veins all sort of romantic madness is baked, my romance feeds off your legend and fame, and in assonant rhymes I served it laid in pages so that one day, my people can drink it ... And it reaches their soul. (en)
  • The soldiers followed them: they went on the defense: then the second, who was a Portuguese named Cofresin lost his hand and took a mortal wound in the head from which he died. Several of the crew were wounded, also the Captain, who along the others escaped: six were made prisoners, who equal to the dead Portuguese, were conducted to Mayagüez. (en)
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  • –Article announcing the supposed death of Cofresí (en)
  • –El pirata Cofresí by Cayetano Coll y Toste. (en)
  • –Romancero de Cofresí by Gustavo Palés Matos (en)
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  • Regarded as the last successful pirate of the Caribbean during the 19th century's suppression era, the life of Roberto Cofresí has been romanticized in his native Puerto Rico and neighboring nations. Already possessing a reputation as hard to capture in life, the freebooter became a symbol for an archipelago immersed in the political unrest caused by its status as a colony within the struggling Spanish Empire. Under these circumstances, Cofresí was soon characterized as a benign and generous thief. In a similar trend, he was also associated with the Puerto Rican independence movement of the era. During the late 19th and early 20th century, the abundant oral tradition led to a subgenre of folk hero literature which depicted Cofresí as a benevolent force and contradicted the other pirate-rel (en)
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  • Roberto Cofresí in popular culture (en)
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