VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHBO #2533/01 1071923
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 171923Z APR 07
FM AMEMBASSY BOGOTA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 4109
INFO RUEHBR/AMEMBASSY BRASILIA 7485
RUEHCV/AMEMBASSY CARACAS 8895
RUEHLP/AMEMBASSY LA PAZ APR LIMA 4957
RUEHZP/AMEMBASSY PANAMA 0187
RUEHQT/AMEMBASSY QUITO 5587
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC
RUEKJCS/SECDEF WASHDC

UNCLAS BOGOTA 002533 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: SOCI PGOV ECON CO
SUBJECT: AFRO-COLOMBIANS STRUGGLE FOR POLITICAL IDENTITY 
 
REF: A. BOGOTA (2006) 11226 
     ¶B. BOGOTA 02274 
     ¶C. BOGOTA 01836 
 
------- 
Summary 
------- 
 
¶1.  A century-and-a-half of state neglect has marginalized 
the majority of Afro-Colombians and created substantial 
deficits in income, health and education.  Sometimes called 
an "invisible minority," only in recent years has the 
government acknowledged Afro-Colombians as a distinct ethnic 
group entitled to their own traditional lands and culture. 
There is wide disagreement about the size of the 
Afro-Colombian population.  End Summary. 
 
------------------------- 
Lacking Basic Necessities 
------------------------- 
 
¶2.  The economic, health and educational needs of 
Afro-Colombians are largely unmet.  Seventy-five percent of 
all Afro-Colombians live in poverty (earning less than USD 2 
per day), and unemployment in predominately Afro-Colombian 
areas is almost double the national average.  Infant 
mortality amongst Afro-Colombians is over 100 per thousand 
births, about five times higher than the rate for the general 
population, and Afro-Colombians lack health insurance at 
double the national average.  The number of Afro-Colombians 
without any education is 30 percent higher than the national 
average, and some sources say the illiteracy rate for 
Afro-Colombians is almost 40 percent.  Basic necessities are 
also a problem:  in the Pacific coast department of Choco, 
where the population is over 80 percent Afro-Colombian, 
almost four out of five households lack clean water, reliable 
electricity, or sewage services (ref A). 
------------------------ 
The "Invisible Minority" 
------------------------ 
 
¶3.  Juan de Dios Mosquera, the director of Cimarron, one of 
Colombia's oldest Afro-Colombian NGOs, calls Afro-Colombians 
an "invisible minority."  Colombia did not formally recognize 
Afro-Colombians as a distinct ethnic group until 1991, even 
though it abolished slavery 150 years ago.  Mosquera thinks 
Afro-Colombians have been ignored because they were 
concentrated in the isolated Pacific coast, physically and 
psychologically separated from the rest of the country by 
mountains and poor infrastructure. 
 
¶4.  Afro-Colombians are Colombia's largest ethnic minority, 
but no one can say with confidence what the size of the 
Afro-Colombian population is.  Before the 2005 census, the 
government estimated there were about 10 million 
Afro-Colombians.  The census tallied only 4.5 million, or 
10.6 percent of the population.  Demographers think there are 
at least 10 million Colombians who, to a significant degree, 
are of African descent.  The 2005 census had a multiplicity 
of possible ethnic self-identifications to choose from other 
than "Afro-Colombian."  Many who could have legitimately 
considered themselves "Afro-Colombian," chose another ethnic 
self-designation.  Additionally, many Afro-Colombians say 
they were never even asked by census-takers to identify their 
ethnicity.  Afro-Colombian groups suggest the population was 
significantly undercounted.  Anecdotal evidence supports this 
hypothesis. 
 
--------------------------------- 
Fragmented Identity, Nascent NGOs 
and Organizational Challenges 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶5.  Urban migration and forced displacement have undermined 
Afro-Colombian communities.  About two-thirds of 
Afro-Colombians live in urban areas; many are recent 
arrivals.  Most Afro-Colombian voluntary migrants said in a 
recent poll that employment opportunities were one of the 
main reasons they migrated.  Afro-Colombians also make up 30 
to 40 percent of the population that is displaced by 
violence.  Pastor Murillo, the director of the Afro-Colombian 
section of the government's Ethnic Affairs Bureau and one of 
the government's highest-ranking Afro-Colombian officials, 
says population movement has fragmented Afro-Colombian 
identity, which was traditionally grounded in local 
communities.  He thinks weak group affiliation hinders the 
development of Afro-Colombian political organizations. 
 
¶6.  Arnobio Cordoba Palacios, a former mayor of Choco's 
capitol Quibdo and current director of an NGO that provides 
microcredit to Afro-Colombian businesses, thinks 
Afro-Colombians didn't develop strong political organizations 
because, paradoxically, Colombia never formalized racial 
segregation.  The absence of "Jim Crow" type laws meant 
Afro-Colombians had less incentive to develop a 
racially-based sense of self-identity, although informal 
segregation is plainly visible.  Additionally, because the 
Colombian body politic was not directly confronted with the 
issue of racial inequality, it was easier to overlook the 
plight of Afro-Colombians.  Contacts tell us that on the 
Pacific coast region, which has the most homogenous 
Afro-Colombian population and where about half of all 
Afro-Colombians live, the sense of Afro-Colombian identity is 
the strongest (ref A). 
 
¶7.  Afro-Colombian congresswoman Maria Isabel Urrutia notes 
that there were no organized Afro-Colombian groups before the 
1970s.  Many that exist now lack political muscle and do not 
share a common agenda.  She thinks the lack of strong 
advocacy groups explains why Afro-Colombians only have two 
special seats in the House of Representatives while 
indigenous groups (whose population of 1.4 million is far 
smaller than the Afro-Colombian population) have a special 
seat in the House of Representatives and two in the more 
powerful Senate.  Urrutia says the government now pays more 
attention to Afro-Colombian issues, but adds that a special 
education program for Afro-Colombians was statutorily created 
but never funded.  She thinks President Uribe's recent 
meetings with Afro-Colombian leadership were a positive step. 
 Urrutia has introduced legislation to criminalize 
discrimination based on race or ethnicity. 
 
¶8.  In 1993 the government began designating traditional 
Afro-Colombian lands as "communal territories" with 
collective land titles pursuant to "Ley 70."  These 
territories are loosely governed by "consejos comunitarios." 
Consejo members are chosen democratically, although 
traditional leadership roles play a role in who is chosen. 
Consejos, primary responsibilities are deciding who is a 
member of the community, what land community members receive, 
and how they can use it.  Consejos operate largely through 
consensus.  Contacts tell us that even when individuals make 
deals to use land without consejo approval, consejos often 
lack the capacity to stop such usage.  This has led to 
consejos losing control of some communal lands (ref B). 
 
¶9.  There are now over 5 million hectares of communal 
territories that have been collectively titled, mostly in the 
Pacific coast region.  Still, they are difficult to develop 
since banks will not accept their land as collateral because 
it is legally inalienable.  Development in the region is also 
hindered by corruption and the presence of multiple illegal 
armed groups, including FARC militias, renegade 
ex-paramilitaries, local narco-cartels and newly emerging 
criminal groups (ref C).  There are also well-substantiated 
instances where Afro-Colombian communities were forced from 
their land by groups seeking to develop lucrative palm oil 
plantations (ref B).  Since much of this land is located in 
areas where government institutions are weak or, in some 
cases, not present, legal enforcement of title is difficult. 
 
 
------------------------------- 
USG Support for Afro-Colombians 
------------------------------- 
 
¶10.  Afro-Colombians tell us it sometimes seems that the USG 
cares more about their issues than the GoC does.  President 
Bush's visit, visits by other US VIPs, and embassy activities 
have helped raise the profile of Afro-Colombian issues in the 
Uribe administration. 
 
¶11.  The USG supports the development of an Afro-Colombian 
caucus through USAID funding to the International Republican 
Institute.  Caucus members come from across the political 
spectrum and include politicians from the Liberal party, the 
U party, and the Polo Democratico party.  These 
representatives have diverging views on many policy issues. 
Still, the IRI process has gotten Afro-Colombian 
representatives to focus on an Afro-Colombian agenda that 
cuts across party lines.  As a result, the group developed 
four specific proposals for the National Development Plan, 
and lobbied the GoC to accept them.  Deputy Director of 
National Planning Mauricio Santamaria told the caucus the 
administration would endorse the points.  These proposals 
will help provide a legal framework for policies addressing 
Afro-Colombian social and economic needs.  Through the IRI 
activities USAID has also sponsored informational seminars on 
issues of special interest to Afro-Colombian legislators to 
excellent effect. 
 
¶12.  In addition to the caucus, USAID devotes substantial 
resources towards supporting Afro-Colombian organizations, 
including NGOs, associations, and consejos comunitarios. 
More than 200,000 Afro-Colombians have benefited from USAID 
alternative development, local governance, forestry, peace 
and justice programs.  USG assistance for displaced persons 
helped over 650,000 Afro-Colombians.  In 2006, USAID 
committed over USD 4.5 million for internally displaced 
Afro-Colombians. 
 
¶13.  The USG is sponsoring scholarship programs for 
Afro-Colombian high school and university students to study 
English.  Many educated Afro-Colombians found the door to 
higher education or professional advancement closed due to a 
lack of English language capability.  The "Martin Luther King 
Fellows" and "College Horizons" programs offer USD 230,000 of 
scholarship funding to address this problem. 
Drucker