Throughout 2023, people of African descent in Latin America had their lives marked by hope, violence, and resilience.
In Colombia, a country that has the largest population of people of African origin in Latin America, second only to Brazil, there was a notable change of government after years of strong neoliberal policies that had led to exclusion and race-based massacres.
The Peace, Human Rights, and Conflict Observatory of Colombia defines a massacre as “the intentional and simultaneous homicide of several persons (3 or more) who are protected by International Humanitarian Law and in a state of defenselessness, in equal circumstances of time, manner and place” (IHL, 2020). According to the institute, these massacres were committed in Afro-Indigenous areas such as the provinces of Cauca, Arauca, Santander, La Guajira, Valle del Cauca, Bolivar, Antioquia, Nariño, Atlantico, Putumayo, and Bogota.
The Institute for Peace in Colombia (INDEPAZ) noted that 313 massacres were committed with 1,192 total fatalities between August 7, 2018, and August 1, 2022.
Afro Colombian territories are highly coveted because of their connection with the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. These lands are pivotal for the cultivation of coca; its processing; and national, regional, and international trafficking, as well as the illegal extraction of gold.
Last December 4, Colombian President Gustavo Petro reported on the difficulty of stopping the massacres, which are the result of the breakdown of peace agreements with the Fuerzadas Armadas Revolucionarias de Colombia/Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla organization during the Duque administration. But they are similar to the massacres of 2022. Recently, at the end of 2023, three more massacres occurred in the departments of Antioquia and Valle del Cauca.
Black, Afro Colombian, and Raizal people are resilient
Last August marked the 10th anniversary (2013–23) of the Congress of Black, Afro Colombian, and Raizal peoples (who are from the San Andres archipelago) in which thousands of people participated. Together, they developed an agenda to implement their rights as citizens and marked the 30th anniversary of Colombia’s Law 70 of Black Communities (1993). These two dates have become part of the permanent guide for Afro Colombian struggles for the recovery of their lands, their spirituality, and their dignity. With the coming to power of the Historical Pact coalition, headed by President Petro and Vice President Francia Márquez Mina, there is an effort to reaffirm this Black agenda. These leaders have been developing this effort amid conflicts and structural violence. Last October, Márquez was in the historic Afro Colombian city of Cartagena for the installation of the National Commission for Historical Reparation (Comisión Intersectorial Nacional de Reparación Histórica). The Commission will officially pay tribute to people who were enslaved and point out the importance of historical reparations for Indigenous peoples, Afro Colombians, Raizals, and Palenqueros. The collective is also charged with working with various government agencies to address ongoing racial violence.. The challenges for 2024 are transcendental and will only be achieved with the unity of the Afro Colombian people.