Blasco Núñez Vela (c. 1490 – January 18, 1546) was the first Spanish viceroy of South America ("Viceroyalty of Peru").

[1] Serving from May 15, 1544 to January 18, 1546, he was charged by Charles V with the enforcement of the controversial New Laws, which dealt with the failure of the encomienda system to protect the indigenous people of America from the rapacity of the conquistadors and their descendants.

He was a descendant of Don Pedro Nuñez de la Fuente Almexir (Fuentearmegil) the loyal, who saved the life of the King of Castile, Alfonso VIII in 1163.

The New Laws promulgated by Charles, under the influence of reformers such as Bartolomé de las Casas, had been established to improve the lot of the indigenous peoples of the Americas within the Spanish dominions.

In order to enforce the New Laws and suppress the insubordination of the conquistadors in New Spain and Peru, representatives of the Crown were provided with the powers and authority of the king.

The New Laws were not well received by the conquistadors because they provided that what was effectively Indian slavery had to end, that everyone had to pay a fair share of taxes, and that all the encomienda rights had to go to the king.

Núñez arrived in Lima, the capital of the colony, on May 17, 1544, where he was received in royal splendor and sworn into office.

On September 13, 1544, in a late night interview in the viceroy's palace, Núñez accused Juan Suárez de Carbajal of treason.

Pizarro made his solemn entry into Lima on October 28, at the head of 1,200 well-trained and well-armed soldiers, with artillery, under the royal banner of Castile.

Pizarro was sworn in before the Audiencia as interim governor and captain general of Peru, until a replacement could be named by the king.

Núñez and his small force left San Miguel (near Quito) just ahead of Pizarro's soldiers.

King Charles recognized the fallen viceroy and his sons, ordering that Núñez be honored annually.