Vel√°zquez, Diego de (or Vel√°squez or Vel√°zquez de Cuellar) (c. 1465-c.1524), Spanish soldier and colonizer.
Vel√°zquez accompanied Christopher Columbus on his second voyage to the New World in 1493 and participated in the conquest of Hispaniola. Vel√°zquez led the conquest of Cuba in 1511, and declared himself governor. He remained governor of Cuba until his death. As governor, he founded the Cuban towns of Havana, Baracoa, Bayamo and Santiago de Cuba.
Vel√°zquez sent out exploratory expeditions to the Yucatan Peninsula and Gulf of Mexico under the command of Hernandez de Cordoba and Juan de Grijalva. He also dispatched Hernan Cortes to Mexico in 1519.
Vel√°zquez suspected Cortes of disloyalty and soon tried unsuccessfully to replace him as head of the expedition. His fears were confirmed when Cortes sent riches directly to Spain, bypassing Vel√°zquez's authority. He sent a force to arrest him, but Cortes defeated it, and its men joined Cortes, who went on to conquer the Aztecs.
