written by Alvaro Velasco Alvarez, Fundaminga-Colombia (1)
Translated by Guillermo Calvo Mahé (2)
This paper summarizes an ongoing study of the campaigns initiated in 1970 by Colombian ethnic minorities to overcome lingering consequences of colonialism. It focuses on their efforts to recover their heritage, restore their traditions and protect their communities from Colombia’s internal armed conflicts
Translated by Guillermo Calvo Mahé (2)
This paper summarizes an ongoing study of the campaigns initiated in 1970 by Colombian ethnic minorities to overcome lingering consequences of colonialism. It focuses on their efforts to recover their heritage, restore their traditions and protect their communities from Colombia’s internal armed conflicts
Their success has fundamentally changed Colombian self-perception, as reflected by revisions to the country’s political and administrative organization and illustrated by creation of the 50 million acre Colombian Amazonian reservations in 1986. Although comprising only 2.5% of Colombia’s population, indigenous, Raizal (3) and afro-descended communities now control approximately 25% of Colombia’s territory (approximately 260,000 square kilometers) (4)
Finally recognized as strategic, ecological, cultural and social assets, ethnic reservations and territories have been constitutionally protected since 1991.
1: Introduction
Colombia, located in the northwest corner of South America, is very geographically and culturally diverse. More than sixty languages, including
English, the language of the Afro-Antillean Raizal community in the archipelago
of San Andrés and Providencia are spoken in Colombia, although approximately
90% of Colombians speak only Spanish. It lies between the Pacific Ocean and
(1) Alvaro Velasco is a researcher with Fundaminga in Colombia and Moore Visiting Fellow, in the Tropical Conservation and Development Program at the Center for Latin American Studies of the University of Florida in Gainesville. Fundaminga is an interdisciplinary collective organized as a non-profit association
1: Introduction
Colombia, located in the northwest corner of South America, is very geographically and culturally diverse. More than sixty languages, including
English, the language of the Afro-Antillean Raizal community in the archipelago
of San Andrés and Providencia are spoken in Colombia, although approximately
90% of Colombians speak only Spanish. It lies between the Pacific Ocean and
(1) Alvaro Velasco is a researcher with Fundaminga in Colombia and Moore Visiting Fellow, in the Tropical Conservation and Development Program at the Center for Latin American Studies of the University of Florida in Gainesville. Fundaminga is an interdisciplinary collective organized as a non-profit association
It has assisted community based processes in Colombia for the past twenty years and is currently a participant in the community based processes network being developed in Colombia with support from the University of Florida’s Center for Latin American Studies, Translation Studies Certificate Program
(2) This paper was translated from Spanish by Guillermo Calvo Mahé, BA, JD, LL.M. GCTS (currently a member of the Facultad de Estudios Sociales y Empresariales: Departamento de Ciencias Políticas y Jurídicas of the Universidad Autónoma de Manizales in the Republic of Colombia) for the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida
(2) This paper was translated from Spanish by Guillermo Calvo Mahé, BA, JD, LL.M. GCTS (currently a member of the Facultad de Estudios Sociales y Empresariales: Departamento de Ciencias Políticas y Jurídicas of the Universidad Autónoma de Manizales in the Republic of Colombia) for the Center for Latin American Studies at the University of Florida
Bracketed “[ ]” materials in the text or within footnotes reflect materials added
by the translator do footnotes designated as Translator’s Notes.
(3) Translator’s Note: The Raizal are islanders of mixed ancestry: the English who arrived in Providence Island in 1626 and 7 years later in San Andres, and African slaves imported from Jamaica and other islands in the Caribbean to work in cotton and tobacco plantations.
(4) Those territories, ignored for hundreds of years, are now prized for their biodiversity. Translator’s Note: the author provides two different percentages for the amount of land occupied by the indigenous, Raizal and afro-descended communities, 30% and 25%.
That has been made consistent using 25% but should be verified.
by the translator do footnotes designated as Translator’s Notes.
(3) Translator’s Note: The Raizal are islanders of mixed ancestry: the English who arrived in Providence Island in 1626 and 7 years later in San Andres, and African slaves imported from Jamaica and other islands in the Caribbean to work in cotton and tobacco plantations.
(4) Those territories, ignored for hundreds of years, are now prized for their biodiversity. Translator’s Note: the author provides two different percentages for the amount of land occupied by the indigenous, Raizal and afro-descended communities, 30% and 25%.
That has been made consistent using 25% but should be verified.
