thumb|1830 lithograph of Soto|alt=A man with crossed arms
Benito de Soto Aboal (22 March 1805 – 25 January 1830) was a Spanish pirate who operated in the Atlantic during the early 19th century. He was the captain of the pirate ship Defensor de Pedro, sometimes incorrectly named as the Burla Negra ("Black Joke"), that was responsible for several piracies in the Atlantic in 1828, in a period of increased piracy following the independence of the new states of South America.
The most notable attacks were on the British Indiaman and the American ship Topaz, which involved great violence.
Early life
Benito de Soto was born on 22 March 1805 in the hamlet of Moureira (now a suburb of Pontevedra), Spain.
Turn to piracy
Defensor de Pedro was a Brazilian brig, commanded by a naval officer Mariz de Sousa Sarmento. In 1827 the Brazilian government gave Sarmento a licence to trade in slaves and as privateer, participating in the irregular warfare between Brazil and its neighbour the United Provinces of Buenos Aires (later Argentina). Sarmento assembled a multinational crew of around forty men, mostly from Brazil itself but also from Galicia, in north-western Spain, Portugal and France. Benito de Soto was engaged as the second mate. The Defensor de Pedro left Rio de Janeiro on 22 November 1827 arrived off Elmina, on the Gold Coast (modern Ghana), around 3 January 1828.
thumb|300 px|An illustration of Defensor de Pedro chasing Morning Star
The most infamous episode in de Soto's career came on 19 February 1828, when the Burla Negra happened upon the Morning Star en route from Ceylon to England. After killing some of the passengers and crew with cannon fire, de Soto murdered the captain and took possession of the ship.
Many of the captured crew were killed, while women passengers were raped before de Soto's men locked them in the hold with the rest of the survivors. Meanwhile, the imprisoned survivors had managed to escape and prevent the Morning Star from sinking. A passing merchant vessel rescued them the following day.
By August 1828 news spread in American papers about the murder of the Topaz crew. "The following is a list of the officers and crew of the ship Topaz of Boston, which vessel was taken by pirates, and destroyed, and the whole crew murdered. Martin Brewster, born in Kingston, Mass., aged 32, master, Arnold S. Manchester, Little Compton, R.I., aged 30, first mate; Edward Smith, Ipswich, Mass., 21, second mate; John Barber (black), New York, 28, steward; Samuel Gulliver (black) New York, 36, cook; T. J. Yates, Boston, 27; William S. Burton, do. 40; Adam S. Huger, do. 18, Israel Smith, do 18; John Drew, Halifax N.S., 24; William Appley, Barnstable, 19; Edward Keyser, Philadelphia, 34; Albert Richmond, Dighton, 24; Henry Williams, New York, 23 - all seaman."
De Soto then sailed for Corunna. On the way he encountered a small brig; he attacked and sank it, killing all the crew but one. De Soto forced the remaining sailor to steer the Burla Negra to Corunna; when they arrived at the port, de Soto blew the man's brains out.