Latin American colonization and independence

As we have learned in class, the Spanish were the first to invade the territory which is now Spain.

In 1532, Francisco Pizarro led a group of men to overtake the Inca empire (modern day Peru and Chile).

According to the reading from John Charles Chasteen "The leader of the Peruvian expedition, Francisco Pizarro, was another seasoned conquistador who, like Cortes (his distinctive relative), employed a tried-and-true maneuver, something the Spanish had been practicing since their first Caribbean encounters with indigenous people, when he treacherously took the Inca ruler Atahualpa hostage in 1532. Then too, the Spanish advantage in military technology must be recalled."