Maximiliano Matos (died 1844) was the Governor of Queimada under the Portuguese Empire. He was shot by Terry Sanchez during the Queimadan Revolution.
Biography[]
Matos was born to a wealthy landowning Portuguese family on the Lesser Antilles island of Queimada, and was one of the aristocrats that ruled the island. He later became Governor of Queimada and oversaw its sugarcane exportation to Portugal, making it a wealthy empire. Matos' rule saw slavery and the mistreatment of sugarcane cutters, leading to a revolution led by Santiago. Santiago was captured and executed in 1844, temporarily ending the revolt, but soon Sir William Walker and Jose Dolores robbed the Banco Espiritu Santo. Matos sent troops to captiure them but they were massacred by armed populace under Dolores, starting the Queimadan Revolution.
Death[]
Matos dead
The revolution became not only a slave revolt but also an aristocratic gamble for power; the white officials of the island would not want to miss their chance to join the revolution, or else they would be seen by the rebel African slaves as with the government and would be executed. Terry Sanchez, one of the white aristocrats, was told by Walker to kill Matos during riots in the streets one night. From a high balcony, a hooded Sanchez aimed at Matos, on a lower balcony with the officials of the island, and shot him in the chest with a pistol. Matos slumped forwards, dead, and the rioters attacked and killed the soldiers in the streets, and the Republic of Queimada was formed soon after.