celebrity.estateAn EGRET.LAW propertyWorld map3D timeline
Home / Stories / Latin America
Subject

Latin America

Conquistadors' heirs, emperors, dictators, stars and dynasties from Mexico to Patagonia, and what their estates became.

30 storiesEvery story with sourcesFilter all stories

What do the latin america estate cases show?

A body held by enemies is divided as evidence, and the parts can end up in different countries. The state can take a criminal's land, but it also takes on whatever the land contains.

Stories
30
Years
1520 to 2020
Main regions
Latin America, Europe
Legal traditions
Civil law, Royal and church law
Updated
30 October 2026

Every case in latin america, best-known first

Best-known first: cases from 1900 on, then the United States, then Europe, and the people most read about on English Wikipedia each month. Fiction, scripture and legend come last.

Che Guevara: Ernesto Guevara. Retrato. ca.19451967 · La Higuera and Vallegrande, BoliviaBolivian officers cut off Che Guevara's hands in 1967, a minister had them smuggled toward Cuba in a jar, and his body was found under an airstrip 30 years laterErnesto "Che" Guevara was captured in Bolivia and killed at La Higuera on 9 October 1967. President René Barrientos wanted proof of identity and asked Argentina for experts to compare fingerprints with police records.pagina12.com.ar and 3 morePablo Escobar: Pablo Escobar Mug (cropped)(b)1993 · Puerto Triunfo, Antioquia, ColombiaPablo Escobar's four hippos outlived him, Colombia seized his ranch, and in 2026 the government approved killing their descendantsIn 1978 Pablo Escobar and his cousin Gustavo Gaviria assembled the Hacienda Nápoles, about 3,000 hectares between Medellín and Bogotá, with a private zoo of rhinos, elephants, camels, giraffes, zebras and hippos.minambiente.gov.co and 3 moreErnest Hemingway's home in Havana, Cuba LCCN2010638847: Title: Ernest Hemingway's home in Havana, Cuba Physical description: 1 photograph : digital, TIFF file, color. Notes: Heming1961 · San Francisco de Paula, Havana, CubaErnest Hemingway's widow gave his Cuban house to Castro's government in 1961 and shipped his papers and paintings out on a shrimp boatHemingway rented Finca Vigía outside Havana from 1939 and bought it in December 1940 for 12,500 dollars. He wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls and The Old Man and the Sea there.Smithsonian Magazine and 3 moreEva Perón: Evita (cropped)1952 · Unzué Palace, Buenos AiresArgentina's military seized Eva Perón's embalmed body and buried it in Milan under a false nameEva Perón, wife of President Juan Perón, died of cancer at 33. The anatomist Pedro Ara embalmed her body. In 1955 the military overthrew Perón.Il Post and 3 moreJuan Perón: Official photo of President of Argentina, Juan Domingo Perón, using the presidential sash.1974 · Buenos Aires, ArgentinaThieves cut the hands off Juan Perón's body in 1987 and demanded 8 million dollars, and the judge investigating died in a car crashPerón died in office on 1 July 1974 and lay in the family vault at the Chacarita cemetery from 1976. In June 1987 the Justicialist Party received an anonymous letter saying his hands had been taken, with his military cap and sword.pagina12.com.ar and 3 morePancho Villa: General Francisco Villa (cropped)1923 · Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua, MexicoPancho Villa's grave was opened in 1926 and his head taken, and his widows' court fight ended with the government seizing his haciendaIn the 1920 Sabinas agreement Francisco "Pancho" Villa laid down arms in return for the Canutillo hacienda in Durango, given to him in full ownership, and an escort of 50 men.revistabicentenario.com.mx and 2 morePedro Infante: Pedro Infante en 1954 (cropped)1957 · Mérida, Yucatán, MexicoMexico's Supreme Court annulled Pedro Infante's second marriage six days before he died in a plane crashPedro Infante married María Luisa León on 19 June 1939, in a civil ceremony and then in Mexico City's cathedral. She had paid his early way by selling jewelry and spending her savings.infobae.com and 2 moreMap of Brazil, marked on the globe2020 · São Paulo, BrazilJoseph Safra's son sued his mother and brothers over the family bank, alleging his father had been influenced to change his will, and settled in 2024Jacob Safra founded the family bank, and his son Joseph took it over in 1955 and ran it with his brothers Edmond and Moise. Edmond died in 1999, and Joseph bought out Moise in 2006. Joseph died in December 2020, aged 82.forbes.com.br and 1 moreSimón Bolívar: Simón Bolívar. Toro Moreno, Luis. 1922, Legislative Palace, La Paz1830 · Santa Marta, ColombiaSimón Bolívar's will left only the Aroa copper mines, his sisters sold them in 1832, and Hugo Chávez had his bones dug up in 2010Bolívar was born into a rich creole family of Caracas. In 1663 the Spanish king had granted the Aroa mines, about 9,000 hectares west of Caracas, to Francisco Marín de Narváez, his great-great-grandfather.es.wikisource.org and 4 moreLuis Barragán House and Studio Street view: Luis Barragán House and Studio Street view1988 · Mexico City, MexicoLuis Barragán's archive was sold in 1995 and kept closed in Switzerland, and an artist made a diamond from his ashes to trade for itBarragán won the Pritzker Prize in 1980 and died in Mexico City on 22 November 1988. His house and studio became a museum co-owned by the State of Jalisco and a private foundation, and a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2004.barragan-foundation.org and 4 moreCarlos Gardel: Carlos gardel en su casa 19331935 · Medellín, ColombiaCarlos Gardel's will said he was born in Toulouse and left everything to his mother, and his estate passed from her to his agent's family while Uruguay says he was born thereOn 7 November 1933, the day he left for Europe, Gardel wrote a holographic will at the request of his agent, Armando Defino.todotango.com and 4 moreMap of Cuba, marked on the globe1959 · Cárdenas, CubaCuba seized the Arechabala family's Havana Club rum company in 1959, and the family's lapsed US trademark has been in court ever sinceThe Arechabala family founded José Arechabala S.A. in Cárdenas in 1878. It made Havana Club rum and registered the mark in the United States in 1935.congress.gov and 2 moreJuan Vicente Gómez: Gómez, 1928 restored1935 · Maracay, Aragua, VenezuelaVenezuela confiscated dictator Juan Vicente Gómez's fortune after his death in 1935, after first letting more than 90 relatives leave with moneyJuan Vicente Gómez ruled Venezuela from 1908 until his death in 1935. Historian Doug Yarrington writes that he took control of key areas of the economy, drew wealth from Venezuelans and handed resources to favourites.history.colostate.edu and 3 morePedro II of Brazil: Pedro II of Brazil - Brady-Handy1891 · Petrópolis, Rio de Janeiro, BrazilPedro II's heirs still collect 2.5 percent of every land sale in central Petrópolis, 137 years after the empire fellIn 1830 Pedro I bought the Córrego Seco farm in the mountains above Rio and renamed it the Imperial Fazenda da Concórdia. On his death in 1834 it passed to his son Pedro II.ub.edu and 2 moreCantinflas: Cantinflas en 1967 (cropped)1993 · Mexico City, MexicoCantinflas's son and nephew fought over his films on the strength of a deathbed paper, and the family crypt was broken open in 2018Mario Moreno, known as Cantinflas, died in Mexico City on 20 April 1993, aged 81. His ashes went to the family crypt at the Panteón Español.eltiempo.com and 2 moreAssis Chateaubriand: Senador Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand Bandeira de Mello1968 · São Paulo, BrazilAssis Chateaubriand had Vargas change the law to win custody of his daughter, gave his media empire to 22 employees, and that daughter lost the fight to recover it in 2014Francisco de Assis Chateaubriand built the Diários Associados, at its peak more than a hundred newspapers, radio and television stations and magazines.correiodamanha.com.br and 4 moreCasa escuela rural de Montegrande: This is a photo of a national monument in Chile:1957 · Montegrande, Coquimbo, ChileGabriela Mistral left her South American royalties to the poor children of her village, and Pinochet's government let anyone publish her work in Chile from 1979Gabriela Mistral grew up in Montegrande in the Elqui valley and won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1945.chile.justia.com and 5 moreMap of Argentina, marked on the globe1947 · Buenos Aires, ArgentinaBolivia seized the tin king's mines in 1952, and his heir offered the government a 5 million dollar loan for a law that would let him divorceSimón Iturri Patiño built Bolivia's largest tin business and in 1924 merged his mines and railways into Patiño Mines and Enterprises Consolidated, a Delaware company.Time and 3 moreMap of Mexico, marked on the globe1560 · Xilotepec (Jilotepec), State of Mexico, MexicoMalinche's daughter sued her father's widow for the encomienda of Xilotepec, citing her mother's service to the Crown in the conquestMalinche, whom the Spaniards called Doña Marina, was an Indigenous woman given to Hernán Cortés in 1519 who became his interpreter through the conquest of Tenochtitlan.cambridge.org and 2 morePedro V of Portugal: Pedro V, King of Portugal1834 · Porto, PortugalPedro I left his heart to Porto, the city council and a church brotherhood fought over where to keep it, and Brazil borrowed it in 2022Pedro declared Brazil independent in 1822 and became its emperor. He abdicated in 1831 and returned to Portugal.repositorio-aberto.up.pt and 3 moreMap of Mexico, marked on the globe1596 · Mexico City, MexicoThe Inquisition burned the heir to Nuevo León's governorship with his mother and three sisters in 1596, and his stolen memoir went back to Mexico in 2017Luis de Carvajal y de la Cueva, born to converso parents in Portugal, obtained a royal patent on 31 May 1579 to govern and colonise the New Kingdom of León at his own expense.tshaonline.org and 3 moreEliza Lynch mausoleum: Eliza Lynch mausoleum in Recoleta cemetery, Asunción, Paraguay.1870 · Cerro Corá, ParaguayEliza Lynch buried Paraguay's dictator and their son in 1870, was expelled when she came back for his lands, and Paraguay voted in 2025 to move her bones to its Pantheon of HeroesEliza Alicia Lynch was born in Cork on 19 November 1833. She met Francisco Solano López, son of Paraguay's ruler, in Paris in 1854 and went with him to Asunción.portalguarani.com and 6 moreMaximilian I of Mexico: Maximilian of Mexico bw1867 · Querétaro, MexicoJuárez refused to hand over Emperor Maximilian's body after the 1867 execution, and his widow's fortune went home to Belgium with her under her brother's controlArchduke Ferdinand Maximilian of Austria took the Mexican crown in 1864 with French troops behind him. His wife Charlotte, daughter of King Leopold I of Belgium, brought a dowry that paid for their castle of Miramare near Trieste.history.state.gov and 4 moreMaximilian I of Mexico: Maximilian of Mexico bw1867 · Mexico City, MexicoMaximilian made the two-year-old grandson of Mexico's first emperor a prince and his ward, and the boy died a Georgetown language teacher with no childrenAgustín de Iturbide was crowned Mexico's first emperor in 1822, overthrown in 1823 and shot in 1824. His son Ángel married an American, Alice Green, and their son Agustín was born in Mexico City on 2 April 1863.es.wikisource.org and 2 moreMoctezuma II: Moctezuma Mendoza1520 · TenochtitlanSpain and then Mexico paid Moctezuma's heirs for Tacuba lands until a 1934 decree, and a Spanish dukedom still carries his nameAfter Tenochtitlan fell, Spain granted Moctezuma II's daughter Isabel perpetual ownership of lands that included Tacuba. Chroniclers counted more than 300 towns there.boe.gob.es and 4 moreIgreja de São Francisco de Assis (Diamantina, Minas Gerais): Igreja de São Francisco de Assis em Diamantina, Minas Gerais1796 · Arraial do Tejuco (Diamantina), Minas Gerais, BrazilChica da Silva, born enslaved, made a will naming 14 children as heirs and divided enslaved people among themFrancisca da Silva was born enslaved near Serro about 1732, daughter of an enslaved African woman, Maria da Costa, and a Portuguese man. Her first owner, the physician Manuel Pires Sardinha, fathered her son Simão.tjmg.jus.br and 1 moreJoaquim José da Silva Xavier signature: Assinatura de Tiradentes (Joaquim José da Silva Xavier) no auto da devassa.1792 · Rio de Janeiro, BrazilPortugal's 1792 sentence declared Tiradentes's children and grandchildren infamous, and Brazil later paid pensions to people who said they descended from himJoaquim José da Silva Xavier, called Tiradentes, was a militia ensign in Minas Gerais and a leader of the Inconfidência Mineira, a 1789 plot to end Portuguese rule. The 1792 sentence condemned him to hang.pt.wikisource.org and 3 morePartida de casamiento de José Gabriel Túpac Amaru y Micaela Bastidas: Registro parroquial que contiene la partida de matrimonio de José Gabriel Túpac Amaru y Micaela Bastidas. Ubic1781 · Cuzco, PeruA Cuzco chief sued for four years to be recognised as the last Inca's heir, then led the 1780 rebellion with the case still undecidedThe Marquisate of Oropesa was created in 1614 for Ana María Lorenza de Loyola, heir of the Inca Sayri Túpac, after she won a lawsuit against the Crown. It covered Yucay, Huayllabamba, Urubamba and Maras.revistas.pucp.edu.pe and 3 morePedro de Valdivia: Pedro de Valdivia1553 · Tucapel, ChilePedro de Valdivia's wife waited 27 years in Spain, learned on her voyage that he was dead, and the governor married to his former mistress did not pay her pensionMarina Ortiz de Gaete was born in Zalamea de la Serena, Extremadura, in 1509 and married Pedro de Valdivia in 1527. He left for the Indies and she stayed.memoriachilena.gob.cl and 3 moreDiego Velázquez de Cuéllar: DiegoVelazquezCuellar1538 · Cuzco, PeruDiego de Almagro willed his governorship of New Toledo to his mestizo son, Pizarro ignored the will, and the son's followers killed PizarroDiego de Almagro was Francisco Pizarro's partner in the conquest of Peru. In May 1534 the Crown granted him the right to conquer and settle the lands 200 leagues south of Pizarro's territory, the governorship of New Toledo.revista.agn.gob.pe and 2 more