Guarda costa

[1] They were mainly active against British, Dutch, French and Danish ships, becoming a mainstay of Spanish naval defense in the Indies and contributing to local economy with booty of their captures.

[2] Guarda costas earned international infamy for their perceived brutality and excesses in the course of their work, attacking indiscriminately foreign ships and arresting or executing crews at the slightest suspicion of crime.

[1] The number and aggression of guarda costa increased during the political tensions of 1729[8][page needed] helped by the hand of José Patiño, a promoter of privateering who oversaw similar activities against Barbary pirates in the Mediterranean.

[9] During the 1770s, increasing centralization of imperial power started dissociating private enterprises from guarda costa activity, which was funded instead with the royal treasure under the Derecho de Armada y Piragua.

The authorities further attempted to maintain an appearance of law enforcement rather than privateering, including a brief controversy between José de Mazarredo and Francisco Machado over whether captured ships had to labelled as prey or confiscation.