De Bastidas' refusal to share the gold that he had acquired greatly angered some of his men, among them his lieutenant Villafuerte, who led a conspiracy of some fifty men to murder De Bastidas.
One night, while Bastidas was asleep, he was attacked and stabbed five times.
He was able to cry out, and his men rushed to his aid.
Although seriously wounded, he did not die immediately.

Owing to a lack of adequate medical facilities in Santa Marta, Bastidas attempted to sail to Santo Domingo, but bad weather forced him to land in Cuba, where he died from his injuries.
Later, his only son, Archbishop Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera, moved his remains to Santo Domingo where he is interred along with his wife and son at The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, the oldest cathedral in the Americas.
De Bastidas' refusal to share the gold that he had acquired greatly angered some of his men, among them his lieutenant Villafuerte, who led a conspiracy of some fifty men to murder De Bastidas. One night, while Bastidas was asleep, he was attacked and stabbed five times. He was able to cry out, and his men rushed to his aid. Although seriously wounded, he did not die immediately.
Owing to a lack of adequate medical facilities in Santa Marta, Bastidas attempted to sail to Santo Domingo, but bad weather forced him to land in Cuba, where he died from his injuries. Later, his only son, Archbishop Rodrigo de Bastidas y Rodriguez de Romera, moved his remains to Santo Domingo where he is interred along with his wife and son at The Cathedral of Santa María la Menor in the Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, the oldest cathedral in the Americas.
Rodrigo de Bastidas