The Oriental Republic of Uruguay is one of the smallest countries in South America. I have been there twice, at the invitation of the civil rights organization Mundo Afro, which is led by Afro Uruguayan leader Romero Rodríguez.
I recently talked about Uruguay with activist Juan Pedro Machado, another Mundo Afro founder. Juan Pedro is practically Afro Brazilian since he was born in the city of Rivera, which is on Uruguay’s northern border, near the Brazilian border.
The Mundo Afro organization, made up of Romero Rodriguez, Beatriz Ramirez, Miguel Pereira, Luisa Casaste, and Juan Pedro Machado, among others, is working to end the social inequalities and systematic racism that exists not only in Uruguay, but in all of Latin America.
AmNews: What is the population of Uruguay and what percentage of its people are Afrodescendants?
Juan Pedro Machado: According to the 2011 National Census of Population and Housing, which is conducted by the Instituto Nacional de Estadística (INE/National Statistics Institute), the total population of Uruguay is 3,286,000 (a new census with the same characteristics was conducted in 2023, but the data obtained has not yet been published).
AmNews: How was Afro Uruguayan culture created?
JPM: African contributions are the primary sources of Afro Uruguayan culture. Then there are Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and Indigenous components.
The African contributions are the result of a fusion of several African ethnic groups from Angola, Congo, Benin (formerly Dahomey), and present-day Mozambique. The most important influence was our creation of different models of organizations. One of the best known was the Salas de Naciones (literally, Nation Halls), a model that brought together people from regions where cultural factors such as languages, religions, and other practices predominated.
These were spaces where religious rituals were carried out, needs were addressed, and solutions were sought for members of the Sala; money was collected to resolve issues such as burials, or to support widows, as well as to serve as resources to buy the freedom of Sala members. Political decisions were also made with these funds: There is a broad consensus among historians that the best-known revolt of enslaved Africans, which took place in 1803, was organized and financed by one of these Salas, the Sala of the Congos.
Afro Uruguayan candombe: a heritage of humanity
Juan Pedro is a member of the Barlovento working group led by Professor Sheila Walker, and as our interviewee said, the Kongo culture was dominant in Uruguay’s organizational structures—its Salas. Uruguay’s major cultural expression is called Candombe, and in Angola, there is a people called Candombe. The Candombe originated during the colonial period, strengthened by Salas de Naciones rituals, which took place during religious and social celebrations.
Candombe and other African religions are the principal cultural expressions of Afro Uruguayans.
Candombe can be interpreted as a cultural fusion featuring the percussion of Afro Uruguayan drums and the dance of emblematic figures like Mama Vieja, Gramillero, and Escobero, who are viewed as the archetypes of fundamental African cultural values, such as community and the role of older women, the importance of one’s relationship with nature and medicinal plants, and the energy that flows in living spaces.
Words from Candombe have an important literary place, particularly in poetry, where they have been musicalized and often sung by candombe groups along with added orchestration.
The best-known examples of candombe are the Comparsas de Candombe, which are presented as a street show through long parades with groups of up to 150 members, including Afro Uruguayan drummers, dancers, and archetypal characters who carry flags with representative group colors and banners, to which are added two elements that recall the presence of Muslim cultural influences—a star and a crescent, presented individually and on long poles that allow the public to see them as an important part of the spectacle.
There are usually parades of drum groups, known as Cuerda de Tambores, made up of the three basic Candombe drums: the Chico, which marks the rhythm with its high-pitched sound; Piano, which marks the base of the music with its low-pitched sound; and the Repique drum, which marks various sounds and complements the sounds of the other drums.
Parades of comparsas are called “llamadas,” and constitute a spectacle attended by dozens of comparsas. Candombe’s llamadas, comparsas, and drumming have been popularized throughout the country, among all of Uruguay’s ethnic, cultural, and social groups. This popularization has so secularized candombe expressions that some have broken from their religious origins and led some people to deny the foundational links with African spirituality and ancestry. This could be one of the reasons for the slow but permanent process of members of Afrodescendant families distancing themselves from the ritual practices of candombe.
AmNews: What is the geographical distribution of Afro Uruguay?
JPM: The geographical distribution of Africans and their descendants also influenced certain characteristics: In the south, Afro Uruguayan culture has urban and seaport origins; in the north, the culture is tied to cattle ranching and the existence of huge slopes in the border zone with Brazil––there, the cultural expressions have a lot to do with traditions related to those developed by the Afrodescendants of Brazil.
These cultures incorporated elements of the hegemonic cultures to build; among others, new organizational forms, such as clubs, or cultural associations…Candombe, the most popularized expression of Afrodescendant artistic culture, has its origins in these Salas.
The fight for Afro Uruguayan recognition
We began doing advocacy work for the Afro Uruguayan community with state and international organizations in the 1990s. This was before the Third World Conference against Racism and Discrimination, held in South Africa in 2001. From this period, we can highlight some referential instances.
In Montevideo, the political and economic capital of Uruguay, the Unidad Temática Afro (UTA/ Afro Thematic Unit) was created in agreement with the municipal government, a racial equity mechanism aimed at promoting municipal policies for the development of the Afrodescendant peoples and communities. UTA discussed with the INE the inclusion of ethnic and racial variables in the national census, so there would be concrete data to facilitate the promotion of policies that affect the Afro population; the National Household Survey, a permanent statistical monitoring system carried out by the INE, included the question on ethnic relationships, providing the nation’s first official statistical data in modern times on the Afro and Indigenous communities.
A National Seminar on Racism and Development Program for Afrodescendant communities was also held. This event had a very important impact on Uruguayan society because it brought to public attention the existence and practice of racism in the country, as well as the socioeconomic situation of Afrodescendant people and communities.
One of the most impactful aspects was the participation of various social groups who had to state their position on the issues analyzed. This generated great visibility and awareness of the racial situation in society, which facilitated the negotiations with the federal government.Afro Uruguayans––between ‘camdombe’ and self-recognition