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= Baron Raymondo = For other people with the surname Raymondo, see Raymondo (surname). Baron Lucían Ortega de Raymondo (c. 1603 – December 1689) was a Spanish baron and privateer, known for kidnapping the family members of various pirate captains between 1620 and 1689 at the behest of his longtime friend and mentor Marquis de la Montalban.

Early Life
Little is known about Baron Raymondo's early life. He was born in Toledo c. 1603. Later in life, Raymondo wrote in his log, "My childhood taught me that the true enemies of our aristocracy are the upstart merchants who dress themselves in finery and depend utterly on shipments from the colonies in New Spain." Some historians have speculated that the Raymondo family lost their fortune as a result of competition with Spain's emerging bourgeois class.

During his youth, Raymondo was patronized by the controversial Marquis de la Montalban. Raymondo later wrote that, if not for the Marquis, "I would despaired of the Spanish race."

It is unknown how Raymondo made his way to the Caribbean, however records indicate that by 1620 he was firmly established as the captain of a privateer galleon called The Evil.

Career as a Privateer
Beginning in 1620, Baron Raymondo embarked on a lucrative career as a privateer for the Spanish crown. He soon gained a reputation, both for ability as a captain and for his skill with a cutlass.

In 1627, a grizzled bartender reported that Raymondo had last been seen in Havana.

Historians estimate that The Evil carried as many as 5,000 gold doubloons in its treasure hull at any given time.

Kidnapping Families
During this period, the Marquis de la Montalban approached Raymondo about hiding the members of several families who had failed to pay debts to the Marquis in various shacks on islands throughout the Caribbean. Montalban is reported to have said, "I don't care where you hide them, provided that you record the location on a map, divide the map into four pieces, and keep them in different ships." Historians suspect that the Marquis caution was due to worries that one of the upstart orphan pirates descended from the indebted families would attempt to recuse them from their remote prisons.

Raymondo happily agreed to perform this task for his longtime friend the Marquis and, beginning as early as 1622, Raymondo was hiding random uncles in isolated cabins between several notable geysers.