The indigenous peoples who lived in the Capitanejo region were the Lacha. The Spaniards called them Chitareros, as their hair was cut to the mould of the gourd used for preparing chicha. In 1541, Gerónimo de Aguayos, who had founded Málaga, and 70 other whites arrived in this area. Two years later, don Juan Rodríguez Parra received these lands along the Río Chicamocha and enslaved the Lacha. It wouldn’t be until the following century, in 1630, that Capitán Cristóbal Verde de Aguilar would give Capitanejo its present name. At the turn of the 21st century, paramilitary forces occupied the villager; inhabitants recount the massacres and massive exodus that occurred. The Colombia military moved into Capitanejo in 2003, thus securing it. Capitanejanos have since been returning.