The Afro-Bolivian Royal House is a ceremonial

monarchy A monarchy is a government#Forms, form of government in which a person, the monarch, is head of state for life or until abdication. The legitimacy (political)#monarchy, political legitimacy and authority of the monarch may vary from restric ...

recognized as part of the

Plurinational State of Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

, which does not interfere with the system of the

Presidential republic A presidential system, or single executive system, is a form of government in which a head of government, typically with the title of president, leads an executive branch that is separate from the legislative branch in systems that use separation ...

in force within the country. It is centred in

Mururata Mururata is a mountain in the Cordillera Real of Bolivia. Approximately 35 km East of La Paz, the Mururata lies to the North of the Illimani. The Mururata offers accessible climbing, as its shape does not contain difficult obstacles. Loca ...

, a village in the

Yungas The Yungas ( Aymara ''yunka'' warm or temperate Andes or earth, Quechua ''yunka'' warm area on the slopes of the Andes) is a bioregion of a narrow band of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from Peru and Bolivia, and extends int ...

region of Bolivia. The monarchy is treated as a customary leader of the

Afro-Bolivian community Afro-Bolivians are Bolivian people of Sub-Saharan African heritage and therefore the descriptive "Afro-Bolivian" may refer to historical or cultural elements in Bolivia thought to emanate from their community. It can also refer to the combining of ...

. The powers of the Afro-Bolivian king are similar to those of a traditional king, representing the Afro-Bolivian community.

History

The components of this royal house are the descendants of an old African tribal monarchy that were brought to Bolivia as slaves. The founding monarch, Uchicho, was allegedly of Kongo and Senegalese origin, and was brought to the Hacienda of the Marquis de Pinedo, in the area of Los Yungas in what is now La Paz Department. Other slaves allegedly recognized him as a man of regal background (a prince from the ancient Kingdom of Kongo) when seeing his torso exposed with royal tribal marks only held by royalty. He was crowned in 1823, and was succeeded by Bonifaz, who adopted the surname of Pinedo, the plantation owner. Bonifaz was succeeded by Don José and Don Bonifacio, the latter of whom was born in 1880 crowned in 1932. When Bonifacio died in 1954, the house was led by his oldest daughter Doña Aurora. Because of the lack of a male heir, the kingdom was left without a king for 38 years. Aurora's oldest son,

Julio Pinedo Julio Pinedo (born 19 February 1942) is the ceremonial king of the Afro-Bolivian community of the Nor Yungas province, crowned in 1992, thirty years after the death of the previous king, his grandfather Bonifacio Pinedo. His position gained o ...

, was given the title of king in 1992. The Royal House was officially recognized by the Bolivian state in 2007 with the public coronation of Julio, the current King of the Afro-Bolivian community, which was done by the authorities of the La Paz Department. King Julio has a son, Prince Rolando, who was born in 1995. By 2021 he was studying law at the Universidad de Los Andes in La Paz and preparing for his prospective role as king, stating that his ambitions were to "keep pushing forward to make the Afro-Bolivian community more recognised and visible, the way my father has done until now".

References

{{Reflist, 30em Afro-Bolivian La Paz Department (Bolivia) Monarchies of South America Bolivia Kongolese royalty Non-sovereign monarchy