Renato Beluche

Renato Beluche
The personal residence of Don Manuel Lazos, a Spanish Army officer stationed in Natchez. It was also the birthplace of Beluche.[1]
Born	(1780-12-15)15 December 1780 New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana
Died	4 October 1860(1860-10-04) (aged 79) Puerto Cabello, Venezuela
Nationality	Venezuelan
Other names	Pierre Brugman, Pedro Brugman
Occupation(s)	merchant, pirate, privateer
Years active	1805–1850

Renato Beluche (15 December 1780 – 4 October 1860) was a Spanish Louisiana-born Venezuelan merchant, pirate and privateer active in the early nineteenth century Gulf Coast. Born in New Orleans, Spanish Louisiana to a French smuggler, Beluche went to sea as a pilot's mate in 1802 on board a Spanish Navy warship. By 1805, he had left the navy and become the master of a schooner. Using this ship, Renato turned to piracy and raided Spanish and British merchantmen operating in the gulf.

After becoming associated with Spanish American patriots in Latin America, Renato decided to join their cause, spending over a decade fighting against the Spanish Empire for the cause of Latin American independence. During this time, he joined the pirate Jean Lafitte in assisting the United States to repel a British invasion. Despite his service for the Gran Colombian government, Renato participated in a rebellion against them in 1836, for which he was exiled for nine years. After returning, he helped the government suppress another rebellion, before retiring in 1850, spending the last decade of his life in relative peace and comfort in Puerto Cabello. His remains were posthumously reinterred in the National Pantheon of Venezuela a decade later.