On October 12, 1492, Christopher Columbus believed he had reached the so-called Indies of Asia. The following explorers of the New World understood that the Italian had made landfall on an unknown continent, full of human and natural resources that would be favorable for the European economy. It was around the 16th century when the missionary Bartolomé de las Casas denounced the enslavement of the Indians, advocated for the rights of the natives and reported to the king of Spain how the original culture was destroyed.