Country: Venezuela

Group: Afro-Venezuelan

Date Finalized:

Team: Michael Demangone (lead), Colleen Clauss, Maya Shrikant, Natasha Chandra

Content Warning: forced labor

Approximate Time Period: 1528-1854


              Afro-Venezuelans are descendants of African slaves, who were subject to instances of forced labor and slavery within Venezuela. The data quality for this article is a 2, as sources consisted of reputable websites with limited specific information.

Afro-Venezuelans are outlined loosely as peoples sharing African heritage and occupying rural coastal areas of Venezuela. 2011 was the first year since 1920 that Venezuela has recorded information on the black population within the country (Minority Rights Group, 2017). For this reason, reliable, consistent data is hard to find on the black community within Venezuela and estimates are broad. According to minorityrights.org, different estimates show that the black community makes up 7-60% of the total population within Venezuela (2017).

German bankers were the first to bring African slaves to Venezuela in the year 1528, in order to attempt to exploit the western part of the country (Encyclopedia.com, 2020). However, it was not until the 18th and 19th centuries that various nations such as Portugal, Spain and England imported slaves to Venezuela (Encyclopedia.com, 2020). African slaves in Venezuela were used for a myriad of jobs such as copper mining, pearl diving and fishing. A great deal of African slaves worked on various cocoa plantations as well (Minority Rights Group, 2017). During this time, inter-ethnic sexual relations, marriages, and families resulted in a complex system of ethnic inclusion and exclusion (UN High Commissioner for Refugees, 2017). Frequent rebellions and slave escapes resulted in many “cumbes” (settlements of escaped slaves) around the country. Many Afro-Venezuelans were recruited on both sides of the war for Venezuelan independence. To win Afro-Venezuelans’ loyalty, freedom for slaves was declared in 1812 and 1816. However, it took until 1821 for all newly born Afro-Venezuelan children to be declared free, and until 1854 for slavery to be completely abolished in Venezuela (Wikipedia, n.d.). Currently, Afro-Venezuelans continue to be the victims of discrimination; the discrimination is violent in poorer areas where police forces engage in racial profiling (Minority Rights Group, 2017).  With a high concentration of the Afro-Venezuelan population living in impoverished neighborhoods and regions within the country, they may be left susceptible to being taken advantage of (Minority Rights Group, 2017). 

Sources

  1. Encyclopedia.com. (2020, October). Afro-Venezuelans | Encyclopedia.com. https://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/afro-venezuelans
  2. Minority Rights Group International. (2017, December 06). Afro-Venezuelans. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from https://minorityrights.org/minorities/afro-venezuelans/.
  3. United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. (2017, December). World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Venezuela. Retrieved November 06, 2020, from