Legend has it that Juan Machete was a man from the plains of Venezuela and Colombia, that this nickname was given by Juan Francisco Ortiz, because he always carried a sharp machete around his waist.
They say that he was a very greedy man who wanted to have a lot of wealth... and for this reason he decides to make a pact with the devil himself.
He goes to the plains in the dark of the night he calls the devil and asks him to be made the richest and most powerful man in the region. The devil tells him that it will be so, he just has to give him his wish at the end of his period of fortune, he must give him his soul and those of his loved ones. Juan Machete agrees to give him the soul of his wife and children.
Then the devil asks him to gouge out a chicken's eyes and gut a toad and then to bury them, the day after that, the devil sent him the most productive cows that Juan Machete could have had. They gave birth to two young cows each birth. He also sent 50 men to help him produce the land at no cost.
Legend has it that this is how Juan Machete became the richest man in the entire region. Accumulating many treasures. Until one day his family abandoned him, they went deep in to the plains and he did not know more about them, then his fields began to dry up, the cows stopped giving birth and the 50 men left him one day.
One day, when he comes home, he sees his house start to burn down. He collects all that remains of his treasures and places them in a trunk. He takes his trunk and decides to bury it somewhere in the interior of the plains so that no one takes it from him.
He realized that it was all the work of the devil who had come to collect his debt. But he thought that by escaping he would never see the devil again.
Legend has it that Juan Machete was never heard from again. They say that whenever someone tries to look for Juan Machete's treasure, he places himself in a suitable place, without clothes, and people have to ask the terror of Juan Machete where his treasure is.
If the person is lucky and endures Juan's machete blows, he will be able to get hold of the treasure. But all those who tried found that Juan Machete not only struck with machetes but also expelled fire from his mouth, those who wanted his treasure lost all interest. They were petrified with fear and then left terrified without any intention of wanting to negotiate with the devil again.
Oo I think making a deal with the devil is a big no-no. Juan Machete must have been so blinded by greed that he agreed to it, even sacrificing his family. It is no wonder that he lost everything in the end. Did the deal end when his family left him? When he could no longer offer their soul to the devil?