The Legend of Luis Pardo

A hundred years ago Luis Pardo was gunned down by guards who were followed. Today he is considered a folk hero and legend.

The press of that time contributed to his reputation as an elusive and formidable criminal. He was blamed  for all those crimes occurred in the places he passed through. He was famous for his  impossible escapes  and  have an armed band of riders who fulfilled his orders. Only a little of all that was true, but this is the way he became to be a legend.

Luis Pardo Novoa was born in 1874 in Chiquián.  He was the son and grandson of farmers and he grew up without needs. But the violence has marked his life: his grandfather died in a shootout and his father was killed by landowners. This death was the trigger of his life as a bandit. The story says that when he still being a children, he killed the murderers of his father and has since become an advocate for the poor and weak. When he became an adult he joined the 'montoneras' caceristas, as the father and grandfather were.
.
From the mists of life data are tested: his family owned the farm "Pancal" and was the eldest of five brothers .. "It is claimed as the only outlaw folk hero, a Robin Hood who stole from the landowners to give to the poor".
.

At this time Peru was living the defeat of the war with Chile, was broken and the landowners had absolute power over their lands and their employees. They could even have their lives. At this juncture Luis Pardo appeared, riding for the weak. If it had not existed, someone would have had to invent him.
.
But the man was a human... the Authorities and landowners pursued him and he always escaped. There were strange forces that helped him. "It was the townspeople who protected him, till he was 35 ears old, his life ended the morning of January 5, 1909, a hundred and two years ago.
.
He started to be weary of his wanderings, the bandit tried to surrender. He Thought  to come to Lima to ask for amnesty from the President Leguía. That was his plan, he crossed Cajacay. But the lord of that land, called gamonal Moran, heard from him and ordered a persecution .  the Farmers cornered him until the army came. In a final attempt to escape, Luis Pardo, the bandit jumped into the nearby river and was shot.