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Afro-colombian news

Welcome to Afro-Colombian News Network.

Afro-Colombian communities are among the poorest of the 44 million of inhabitants of Colombia. Their chronic levels of poverty speak of their invisibility and discrimination in a nation recognized by it Constitution as multiethnic and culturally plural. Despite the legal recognition of territorial and cultural rights trough the Law 70 of 1993, the lack of political will and state governance have made this and other legal resources powerless to resolve the historical injustice committed against the colombian Afro-descendants.
One of every ten internally displaced persons is Afro-Colombian. This displacement is related to economic interest from both, legal and illegal economic activities, in a region internationally recognize as one of the most biologically diverse in the planet. Despite the permanent threats, massacres, armed confrontations and other violent actions that have forced the population to fleet their territories, the Colombian government has ignored or not taken appropriate actions to stop the human rights violations committed against these Afro-descendant communities, living the region on one of the most catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the hemisphere.
This space has the goal to defeat insensitive silence about the Afro-Colombians situation. The information posted here comes from advocacy and activist efforts to amplify the sentiments and needs of the grassroots communities, their grassroots organizations and leaders.
The information posted o this web-page can be use for informative, research and other purposes citing the source.

Afro-Colombians are the third largest Afro-descendent population after the United States and Brazil. Most Afro-Colombian communities and territories are located in areas rich in resources and environmental diversity. In 1993 the Law 70 recognized and guaranteed the rights to traditional territories, cultural, social and economic development, and mechanisms of participation and affirmative action. By the law 70 the grassroots communities have the autonomy to lead the internal administration of their collective territories trough the Community Councils as their highest authorities. The struggle of the Afro-descendant communities to preserve their territories of “peace, happiness and freedom” have made them target of serious human rights violations jeopardizing one of the most significant civil rights movements of the Diaspora in the Americas.

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