Pedro Sáinz de Baranda y Borreiro

Pedro Sáinz de Baranda y Borreiro (13 March 1787 – 16 December 1845) was a naval officer, industrialist, and liberal politician who founded the Mexican Navy and led the naval blockade of Veracruz, which ended with the Spanish surrendering San Juan de Ulua Fort in 1825, the last portion of Mexican territory still in Spanish hands. This event is recognized as the culmination of the Mexican War of Independence.

Born in San Francisco de Campeche to a noble Spanish family with a rich political heritage, his father, Pedro Sáinz de Baranda y Cano, was a colonial administrator who served as the Minister of the Treasury under the Spanish Empire. Aged eleven, Sáinz de Baranda embarked to Ferrol, Spain for naval officer training at the Naval Military Academy, joining the Spanish Royal Navy as a Midshipman. He fought in the Battle of Trafalgar, where he served on the battleship Santa Ana, engaging the British fleet despite severe injuries. His valor earned him a promotion to Lieutenant aged eighteen.

During the Mexican War of Independence, he played a significant role in establishing the Mexican Navy. Through a collaborative military and naval effort, he captured the San Juan de Ulúa fortress in Veracruz. As Supreme Commander of the Navy Department, Sáinz de Baranda held the highest operational naval position of the time. He also engaged in various public roles, including being elected to the Cortes of Cádiz, which were tasked with drafting the Spanish Constitution of 1812 and, afterward, was also elected to the Constituent Assembly which drafted the Mexican Constitution of 1824. A member of the Liberal Party, he served as Mayor of Valladolid, Lieutenant-Governor of Yucatán, and on two occasions as Governor of Yucatán. He also contributed to Mayan culture exploration and established the Aurora Yucateca, Mexico's first mechanized textile factory, "a bold experiment in industrial revolution."