Pertinent en waarachtig verhaal van alle de handelingen en directie van Pedro Van Belle

From the middle of the 17th century, the Dutch Republic became more involved in the slave trade to the Spanish colonies. This was organized through the so-called "asiento de negros," in essence a monopoly on the importation of enslaved Africans given out to private contractors in exchange for money. Petrus van Belle worked for several asiento holders (Domingo Grillo, Ambrosio Lomelín and Balthasar Coymans) from Curaçao, a hub for the slave trade between Africa and the Spanish viceroyalties. After the asiento was accused of fraud in 1688, Van Belle published this document to justify his financial transactions. This work provides both a unique economic breakdown of the operation, and a chilling representation of how human suffering was translated into material gains and losses.