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Jean Chourio[85]

In early 1708 a dapper French gentleman arrived in Willemstad from La Guaira, Venezuela, requesting an audience with the Governor. The son of the Spanish consul in Amsterdam, he represented the French asiento in Cartagena, Colombia. Jean Chourio informed Governor Beck that his asiento commission, signed by Spain's Philip V, granted him the right to purchase slaves in Jamaica and Curaçao for the colonies of the Spanish American mainland. Although the Dutch and French were then at war, such examples of "peace beyond the line" were typical of the times. It would be highly profitable, he suggested, if the trade included other commodities that were needed on the mainland; this open invitation to contraband smuggling met with immediate interest from both the Governor and local merchants.

To carry out this trade between Curaçao and the Spanish American mainland, Mr. Chourio opened an office on the island, eventually employing a thirty-two member staff. To ensure the safe transport of enslaved blacks and goods through waters teeming with privateers, Chourio assured the Governor that at least half the crew of each ship would be French. The proposal was risky for Curaçao: how to guarantee that the French and Spanish sailors were not actually enemy spies? But, seeing the great trade possibilities for local merchants, the Governor granted temporary approval, pending the reaction of the WIC Directors in Amsterdam. The Directors reacted over a year later; in May 1709, they forbade Chourio or any of his staff to reside on the island and ordered their immediate arrest and deportation to the mainland; their commodities (including human ones) and cash were to be confiscated.

The WIC Directors' decision was not based on fear of trade with the enemy; they had already issued several specific directives to continue trade with France in spite of the hostilities, and had even approved the entrance to Curaçao of foreign ships that brought produce in exchange for slaves. But the constant losses of Dutch ships to French privateers along major trade routes made it clear that the 150 French residents of Curaçao included some informers, and the WIC was concerned that Chourio had spies among his staff.

Chourio and his thirty-two employees were arrested and his goods, slaves and ships were seized. He was not extradited, however; because he was deeply in debt to several local merchants the Colonial Council decided to allow him to continue doing business on the island, in total defiance of the WIC Directors. The Council's decision was supported by the Governor, who appealed to the WIC to give Chourio a chance to continue trade and so pay off his debts. Chourio won over many of the local merchants by buying a substantial amount of merchandize from them, explaining he gladly would have bought more had the authorities not confiscated so much of his wealth.

Although some merchants had opposed the entry of any French ships to Willemstad, including Chourio's, they seriously reconsidered after seeing the devastating effects which the embargo had on their businesses. The WIC continued to push for Chourio's extradition, because he represented a threat to their direct interest; the interests of the local merchants, in contrast, were best served by continuing to allow him to do business. Meanwhile, French privateers attacked several Dutch ships in the region, threatening supply lines, including the basic foodstuffs that Curaçao required simply to survive. "Although there does not appear to have been sufficient evidence to link Chourio with the loss of Dutch ships, there was no guarantee that his crews would not inform the French privateers swarming around the island of shipping schedules."[86]

From his base in Willemstad Chourio continued to trade in slaves and commodities for a few years. He purchased over a quarter (350) of the 1200 enslaved Africans who were brought to the island on two ships in 1712. In early 1714 he bought 511 of the 556 surviving blacks who arrived on the St. Marcus slaver, and placed an advanced order for the ship's entire cargo from its next trip later that year. By then, however, the trans-Atlantic slave trade had fallen under the control of the British. Chourio left Curaçao shortly thereafter to pursue his trade interests in a more favorable setting. He never returned to the island.

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