Slave hunter = Rancheador

Against the historic backdrop of the colonial slave era in the Caribbean and other parts of Latin America, the figure of the Rancheador (slave hunter) appeared as one of the most abominable exponents of the system. The Rancheador, the mercenary of his era, was in charge of hunting down runaway slaves, the cimarrones, and returning them to their owners, or if the hunt ended in death, bringing back the slave’s ear. Francisco Estevez, one of the bloodiest and most ambitious slave hunters in Cuban history, was hired by the rich landowners to police the interests of absentee sugar growers. This film is based on the diary of Estevez himself, who not only hunted down the runaway slaves in their palenques (communities concealed in the hills, made up of runaway slaves), but also used his henchmen to repress all outbursts of rebellion or desire for freedom of those either white or black, free or slave. ‘Rancheador’ is the second film of Giral’s Slave Trilogy that also includes ‘The Other Francisco’ (1974) and ‘Maluala’ (1979). Adapted from ‘Diary of a Rancheador’ by Villaverde. In Spanish with English subtitles.