Born in Spain in 1475, explorer and conquistador Vasco Núñez de Balboa<span> helped establish the town of Darién on the Isthmus of Panama, becoming interim governor. ... Ávila, reportedly jealous of </span>Balboa, had him beheaded for treason in 1519. He <span> a Spanish explorer, governor, and conquistador. He is best known for having crossed the</span>Isthmus of Panama<span> to the Pacific Ocean in 1513, becoming the first European to lead an expedition to have seen or reached the Pacific from the New World</span>
