Afro-Chileans or Black Chileans are Chilean people of

Black African Black is a racial classification of people, usually a Politics, political and Human skin color, skin color-based category for specific populations with a mid- to dark brown complexion. Not all people considered "black" have dark skin and ofte ...

descent. They may be descendants of

slaves Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

who were brought to Chile via the

trans-Atlantic slave trade The Atlantic slave trade or transatlantic slave trade involved the transportation by slave traders of enslaved African people to the Americas. European slave ships regularly used the triangular trade route and its Middle Passage. Europeans est ...

, or recent migrants from other parts of

Latin America Latin America is the cultural region of the Americas where Romance languages are predominantly spoken, primarily Spanish language, Spanish and Portuguese language, Portuguese. Latin America is defined according to cultural identity, not geogr ...

, the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

History

Atlantic slave trade

Abstract of the evidence for the abolition of the slave-trade 1791 - To face Page 37 - 2

The Atlantic African slaves were first brought to the

Spanish colony The Spanish Empire, sometimes referred to as the Hispanic Monarchy or the Catholic Monarchy, was a colonial empire that existed between 1492 and 1976. In conjunction with the Portuguese Empire, it ushered in the European Age of Discovery. It ...

that is now Chile in 1536. After crossing the

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

from the western coast of Africa, two overland routes trafficked many enslaved Africans to the colony: one crossing west from the northern coast of

South America South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a considerably smaller portion in the Northern Hemisphere. It can also be described as the southern Subregion#Americas, subregion o ...

, and another traveling north from

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

over the

Pampas The Pampas (; from Quechua 'plain'), also known as the Pampas Plain, are fertile South American low grasslands that cover more than and include the Argentine provinces of Buenos Aires, La Pampa, Santa Fe, Entre Ríos, and Córdoba; all o ...

and the

Andes The Andes ( ), Andes Mountains or Andean Mountain Range (; ) are the List of longest mountain chains on Earth, longest continental mountain range in the world, forming a continuous highland along the western edge of South America. The range ...

. Many slaves did not survive the difficult journey in captivity. The port of

Valparaíso Valparaíso () is a major city, Communes of Chile, commune, Port, seaport, and naval base facility in the Valparaíso Region of Chile. Valparaíso was originally named after Valparaíso de Arriba, in Castilla–La Mancha, Castile-La Mancha, Spain ...

was also utilized in the slave trade for maritime transport of captives. Given that the type of economic activity in colonial times, for climatic reasons, was never any large tropical plantations (

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose Glucose is a sugar with the Chemical formula#Molecular formula, molecul ...

and

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

, among others), Europeans did not see the need to import a large contingents of black slaves, like that of the Caribbean. Another reason was that, as a result of the

Arauco War The Arauco War was a long-running conflict between colonial Spaniards and the Mapuche people, mostly fought in the Araucanía region of Chile. The conflict began at first as a reaction to the Spanish conquerors attempting to establish cities a ...

, indigenous

Mapuche The Mapuche ( , ) also known as Araucanians are a group of Indigenous peoples of the Americas, Indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina, including parts of Patagonia. The collective term refers to a wide-ranging e ...

people were stolen from their lands, which in turn were exported to Peru, at a much cheaper price than that of a black slave. Although no economic benefits led to any large importation of African slaves to Chile, roughly around 6,000 Africans were transported directly to Chile where they went into mainly domestic service as a means of status for colonists and as a work force in the mining of gold in

Arica Arica ( ; ) is a commune and a port city with a population of 222,619 in the Arica Province of northern Chile's Arica y Parinacota Region. It is Chile's northernmost city, being located only south of the border with Peru. The city is the ca ...

. By 1590 Afro-Chileans made up 20,000 people, but by the time of emancipation made up only 4,000 in 1823.

Slavery in Arica

The black or Afro-descendant population of present-day

was considerable during the colonial era. The city was founded in 1570 and belonged to the Viceroyalty of Peru and between 1824 and 1880, to the Republic of Peru. This last year was annexed to Chile, after it won the Pacific War. The city received this large number of slaves because its territory was optimal for the cultivation of cotton and sugar cane in the Azapa Valley. Most of the slaves who arrived came from the West Indies or the African continent, especially from the areas of present-day

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

Republic of the Congo The Republic of the Congo, also known as Congo-Brazzaville, the Congo Republic or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Democratic Republic of the Congo), is a country located on the western coast of Central ...

and

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

. In addition, after the discovery of the silver mines of Potosí, Arica became the main port of disembarkation of the slaves who were taken there. During that time, the Spaniards did not live mostly in Arica, as the

anopheles ''Anopheles'' () is a genus of mosquito first described by the German entomologist Johann Wilhelm Meigen, J. W. Meigen in 1818, and are known as nail mosquitoes and marsh mosquitoes. Many such mosquitoes are Disease vector, vectors of the paras ...

, a species of mosquito, present in the

Azapa Valley Azapa Valley is a fertile and narrow oasis in Arica y Parinacota Region, Chile. It is framed between two arid hills and divided by the San Jose River that runs during the summer season. It is located from the city of Arica. This jewel of the nort ...

, transmitted the deadly disease of malaria. Black Africans or their descendants settled in Arica were less susceptible to tropical diseases. In 1793, the book Guía del Perú was published, which reported on the ethnic composition of the inhabitants of the "Partido de Arica".

Afro-Peruvian soldier-settlers in Valdivia

Once Spanish presence in

Valdivia Valdivia (; Mapuche: Ainil) is a city and commune in southern Chile, administered by the Municipality of Valdivia. The city is named after its founder, Pedro de Valdivia, and is located at the confluence of the Calle-Calle, Valdivia, and ...

was reestablished in 1645, authorities had convicts from all-over the

Viceroyalty of Peru The Viceroyalty of Peru (), officially known as the Kingdom of Peru (), was a Monarchy of Spain, Spanish imperial provincial administrative district, created in 1542, that originally contained modern-day Peru and most of the Spanish Empire in ...

construct the

Valdivian Fort System The Fort System of Valdivia () is a series of Spanish colonial fortifications at Corral Bay, Valdivia and Cruces River established to protect the city of Valdivia, in southern Chile. During the period of Spanish rule (1645–1820), it was one ...

. The convicts, many of whom were

Afro-Peruvian Black Peruvians or Afro-Peruvians are Peruvians of mostly or partially African descent. They mostly descend from enslaved Africans brought to Peru after the arrival of the conquistadors. Early history The first Africans arrived, as enslaved ...

s, became soldier-settlers once they had served their term. Close contacts with indigenous

meant many soldiers were bilingual in Spanish and

Mapudungun Mapuche ( , ; from 'land' and 'people', meaning 'the people of the land') or Mapudungun (from 'land' and 'speak, speech', meaning 'the speech of the land'; also spelled Mapuzugun and Mapudungu) is either a language isolate or member of the s ...

. A 1749 census in Valdivia shows that Afro-descendants had a strong presence in the area. Although most Afro-Peruvians came as convicts, Chilean slaves who arrived at the ports of

Coquimbo Coquimbo is a port List of cities in Chile, city, Communes of Chile, commune and capital of the Elqui Province, located on the Pan-American Highway, in the Coquimbo Region of Chile. Coquimbo is situated in a valley south of La Serena, Chile, La S ...

and Valparaiso were two or three times more expensive.

War of Independence

General San Martín A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED Online. Mar ...

formed the army with 3 generals, 28 chiefs, 207 officers, 15 civilian employees, 3,778 enlisted men (made up of a majority of black and mulatto soldiers, more than half freed slaves. A specific group of blacks in Chilean history are the members of the 8th Regiment of the

Army of the Andes The Army of the Andes () was a military force created by the United Provinces of South America, United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (Argentina) and assembled by General José de San Martín as part of his campaign to liberate Chile from the S ...

that fought the Spaniards in

Chacabuco Chacabuco is one of the many abandoned nitrate or "saltpeter" towns ("oficinas salitreras" in Spanish) in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. Other nitrate towns of the Atacama Desert include Humberstone and Santa Laura Saltpeter Works. Unlik ...

. That was the army organized by the

United Provinces of the Río de la Plata The United Provinces of the Río de la Plata (), earlier known as the United Provinces of South America (), was a name adopted in 1816 by the Congress of Tucumán for the region of South America that declared independence in 1816, with the Sove ...

and led by

José de San Martín José Francisco de San Martín y Matorras (; 25 February 177817 August 1850), nicknamed "the Liberator of Argentina, Chile and Peru", was an Argentine general and the primary leader of the southern and central parts of South America's succe ...

to liberate Chile and later allow the liberation of Peru. San Martín demanded black slaves as contribution to the Army of the Andes by the Mendoza landowners, because in his opinion blacks were the only people capable of participating in the infantry component of the army, and included them in the forces commanded later by

Bernardo O'Higgins Bernardo O'Higgins Riquelme (; 20 August 1778 – 24 October 1842) was a Chilean independence leader who freed Chile from Spanish rule in the Chilean War of Independence. He was a wealthy landowner of Basque people, Basque-Spanish people, Spani ...

. They were included in the Army of the Andes and received their freedom after the

crossing of the Andes The Crossing of the Andes () was one of the most important feats in the Argentine War of Independence, Argentine and Chilean War of Independence, Chilean wars of independence. A Army of the Andes, combined army of Argentine soldiers and Chilea ...

and the fight against the Spaniards. As members of the infantry they were exposed to higher risks during battle. This episode of the history of Chile is very seldom mentioned and the group of blacks has never received any recognition for their contribution to the liberation of Chile. Revista de Rancagua Blanes

The number of black soldiers in the Andean army of San Martín during the liberation of Chile from the Spanish throne was numerous and the majority of soldiers from the regiments called numbers 7, 8 and 11 of the Andes infantry were grouped together, but in said regiments all the officers and non-commissioned officers they had to be white according to Argentine law, although San Martín wanted to change the rules so that at least black soldiers would reach the ranks of corporals and sergeants. However, traditionally the Spanish colonial army had battalions of blacks divided into slave and free castes, and San Martín believed it even more difficult to gather people of color and whites fighting as a troop in the same unit. Later both groups numbers 7 and 8 will be recast in Peru in the black regiment of Río de la Plata. The number 4 of Chile, initially white Creoles, will also be converted by his slave recruit from Peru into a black regiment. So the origin of the recruit of people of color was geographically diverse, and consisted of black slaves or freedmen (whether they are Africans or Creole blacks), and in addition to free castes, called in the colony pardos and morenos. Andes Bat 7 Fusilero

In 1816 a part of the 7th Infantry Regiment joined the army under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Pedro Conde, with 600 blacks. In December of that year, San Martín ordered the division of the regiment into two independent battalions: the 8th Infantry Battalion and the 7th Infantry Battalion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonels Ambrosio Crámer and Pedro Conde, respectively. It was agreed with the Cuyan owners that two thirds of the slaves would be incorporated into the army, with 710 being recruited in Cuyo. Thus, although a contingent arrived with number 8 from Buenos Aires, most of its troops were recruited in the provinces. However, the army was nourished mainly by slaves (which Lynch estimates at 1,554 slaves). The age for the recruitment of slaves initially imposed between 16 and 35 years, was extended between 14 and 55 years. According to the military doctrine of San Martín, the colored soldiers would serve better in the infantry branch of the three arms of the army of the Andes, in fact they will end up representing 2/3 of their number, estimating between 2,000 and 3,000 Argentine freedmen who crossed the Andes to Chile in 1817 with San Martín. Of those 2,500 black soldiers who began the crossing of the Andes, only 143 were repatriated alive.

Ban of slavery

El Diario Abolicion Sobre la Libertad de los Esclavos

With the

Freedom of Wombs Free womb laws (, ), also referred to as free birth or the law of wombs, was a 19th century judicial concept in several Latin American countries, that declared that all wombs bore free children. All children are born free, even if the mother is en ...

, slavery was stopped during 1811. The law freed the children of slaves born in Chilean territory, regardless of their parents' condition. The slave trade was banned and the slaves who stayed for more than six months in Chilean territory were automatically declared

freedmen A freedman or freedwoman is a person who has been released from slavery, usually by legal means. Historically, slaves were freed by manumission (granted freedom by their owners), emancipation (granted freedom as part of a larger group), or self- ...

. By 1823, Chile was the second country in the Americas to prohibit slavery, after Haiti. The abolition freed close to five thousand slaves that lived in the country. Despite the gradual emancipation of most black slaves in Chile, slavery continued along the Pacific coast of South America throughout the 19th century, as Peruvian slave traders kidnapped

Polynesians Polynesians are an ethnolinguistic group comprising closely related ethnic groups native to Polynesia, which encompasses the islands within the Polynesian Triangle in the Pacific Ocean. They trace their early prehistoric origins to Island Sout ...

, primarily from the

Marquesas Islands The Marquesas Islands ( ; or ' or ' ; Marquesan language, Marquesan: ' (North Marquesan language, North Marquesan) and ' (South Marquesan language, South Marquesan), both meaning "the land of men") are a group of volcano, volcanic islands in ...

and

Easter Island Easter Island (, ; , ) is an island and special territory of Chile in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian Triangle in Oceania. The island is renowned for its nearly 1,000 extant monumental statues, ...

, and forced them to perform physical labour in mines and in the

guano Guano (Spanish from ) is the accumulated excrement of seabirds or bats. Guano is a highly effective fertiliser due to the high content of nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium, all key nutrients essential for plant growth. Guano was also, to a le ...

industry of Peru and Chile.

Annexation of Arica

The population of African origin formed the basis of the Arica militias during the Colony and the Peruvian Republic. Thus existed the Pardos de Arica battalion, a member of the Peruvian royal army, and years later the Arica Battalion No. 27, under the command of Colonel Julio Mac-Lean, brother of the last Peruvian mayor of Tacna before the occupation. Chilean, killed alongside his unit during the Battle of Alto de la Alianza. One of the African heroes during the war would have been 16-year-old Corporal Alfredo Maldonado Arias, who during the capture of Arica sacrificed himself by setting fire to the gunpowder of the strong Citadel when he saw Chilean troops hoisting their flag in it.

Modernity

Currently, the majority of Afro-Chileans are concentrated in the extreme north of the country, especially in the

and Parinacota Region, particularly in the Lluta, Azapa and La Chimba valleys. In practice, there is no official government mechanism that allows the exact number of Afro-descendants in Chile to be measured, but steps were taken so that the “Afro-descendant” ethnic group was included in the Chilean census of 2012. Notwithstanding the initiatives of different national and international social organizations, these have not been successful, since Sebastián Piñera's administration denied the inclusion of the question about the African origin for the last census., neither were they considered in the Chilean census of 2017. Most Afro-Chileans in modernity are descendants of immigrants, mainly from

Haiti Haiti, officially the Republic of Haiti, is a country on the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean Sea, east of Cuba and Jamaica, and south of the Bahamas. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island, which it shares with the Dominican ...

, see Haitian-Chileans, and mixed backgrounds. The major reason for this is the strong miscegenation that for many decades erased the African ethnic group as a distinct group via

Blanqueamiento Blanqueamiento in Spanish, or branqueamento in Portuguese (both meaning ''whitening''), was a social, political, and economic practice used in many post-colonial countries in the Americas and Oceania to "improve the race" (''mejorar la raza' ...

and

mestizaje ( , ; fem. , literally 'mixed person') is a term primarily used to denote people of mixed Ethnic groups in Europe, European and Indigenous ancestry in the former Spanish Empire. In certain regions such as Latin America, it may also refer to ...

. Genetic studies indicate that in 2014, 3.8% of the Chilean genome came from

Sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lie south of the Sahara. These include Central Africa, East Africa, Southern Africa, and West Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the list of sovereign states and ...

ns, where the highest burden occurs in the regions of

Tarapacá San Lorenzo de Tarapacá, also known simply as Tarapacá, is a town in the region of the same name in Chile. History The town has likely been inhabited since the 12th century, when it formed part of the Inca trail. When Spanish explorer Diego ...

(5.7%),

Antofagasta Antofagasta () is a port city in northern Chile, about north of Santiago. It is the capital of Antofagasta Province and Antofagasta Region. According to the 2015 census, the city has a population of 402,669. Once claimed by Bolivia follo ...

(5.0%), and the Region Metropolitan (4.5%), and the lowest in Aysén (0.3%).

Cultural Contributions

Cueca and Zamacueca Chilena

The origin of the zamacueca and Cueca comes from the musical mestization that occurred between the gypsies and the mulattoes who inhabited Lima during the

. The temperament, the satire and the lamentable and rebellious execution of the guitar have a gypsy origin, while the choral form and the tundete have African origin. It dates back to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries where this mixed musical form began to stand out in the Rímac, Barrios Altos, in neighborhoods of Callao and in bars located between the bridges, alleys and balconies of Lima. The name "zamacueca" comes from "zamba clueca" where the "zamba" (black / Amerindian mestizo woman) makes movements like a "clueca" hen that has laid an egg. The musicologist Nicomedes Santa Cruz indicates that, in Kimbundu, the word "zamba", or samba, means 'dance', while the word "cueca" alludes to "clueca", the state of aggression that the hen after laying her eggs in front of the male. Sambacueca

In the early 1800s the dance was called "zamba" and then "zamacueca", which Africanists consider the origin of the sailor and other dances such as the "mozamala", the "cueca" or the "dance of the handkerchief". Zamacueca-peruana

The customary Fernando Romero Pintado indicates that the colonial dance called "Zamba" performed by Bozals and mulattoes is the mother of the zamacueca and grandmother of the sailor. Also, the researcher José Durand maintains that the zamacueca is the mother of the sailor. Zamacueca-Chile

Another etymological analysis indicates that it would go back to the musical forms belonging to the Gypsy-Andalusian tradition brought by the

Spaniards Spaniards, or Spanish people, are a Romance-speaking ethnic group native to the Iberian Peninsula, primarily associated with the modern nation-state of Spain. Genetically and ethnolinguistically, Spaniards belong to the broader Southern a ...

to Chile, which would have its antecedents in the

Moorish The term Moor is an exonym used in European languages to designate the Muslim populations of North Africa (the Maghreb) and the Iberian Peninsula (particularly al-Andalus) during the Middle Ages. Moors are not a single, distinct or self-defi ...

element of the

zambra ''Zambra'' () (from Andalusi Arabic ''zamra'', originally from classical Arabic ''zamr'') is a style of flamenco dance, typical of the Roma of the provinces of Granada and Almería (Andalusia, Spain). It is believed that the zambra is a continuat ...

(From the Hispanic Arabic zámra, and this from the

classical Arabic Classical Arabic or Quranic Arabic () is the standardized literary form of Arabic used from the 7th century and throughout the Middle Ages, most notably in Umayyad Caliphate, Umayyad and Abbasid Caliphate, Abbasid literary texts such as poetry, e ...

zamr, 'tocata'). Although possible, it is important to know that other dances such as the Zamba in

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

and

Samba Samba () is a broad term for many of the rhythms that compose the better known Brazilian music genres that originated in the Afro-Brazilians, Afro Brazilian communities of Bahia in the late 19th century and early 20th century, It is a name or ...

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

have their origins in the

Kimbundu Kimbundu, a Bantu language which has sometimes been called Mbundu or North Mbundu (to distinguish it from Umbundu, sometimes called South Mbundu), is the second-most-widely-spoken Bantu language in Angola. Its speakers are concentrated in the n ...

and

Kikongo Kongo or Kikongo is one of the Bantu languages spoken by the Kongo people living in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), the Republic of the Congo, Gabon, and Angola. It is a tonal language. The vast majority of present-day speakers li ...

languages as well.

Tumbe

The Tumbe is an Afro-Descendant dance that is currently danced in northern Chile by Afroariqueñas, brought to the continent by African slaves 400 years ago in the

under the

. Being this region one of the main ones with Afro origins descended from Chile. Around the second half of the twentieth century the claim of the Afro populations in South America burst in with it the Tumbe del valle de azapa.

Current issues and discrimination

Discrimination and social exclusion have been another important issue in recent times for Afro-descendants in Chile. In the southern areas of the country, the presence of blacks is almost non-existent and the majority are foreign immigrants or passing tourists. This, added to the absence of historical ties in the area, provokes a feeling of mistrust, rejection and the appearance of prejudices around the black community. On the other hand, in the north of Chile, the case of José Corvacho, an Afro-descendant official of the ''Solidarity and Social Investment Fund'' (FOSIS) of the

and Parinacota Region, was known to public opinion in December 2010, who was fired according to their statements due to their skin color. This fact led to the resignation of the Regional Director of FOSIS and the corresponding investigations of the case, reopening the debate on ethnic inclusion in the country. On April 8, 2019, the state of Chile gave legal recognition to the Afro-Chilean people through the enactment of Law 21,151.

Afro-Chilean organizations

Afro-Chileans have formed various entities and organizations to defend their culture and identity: ''Organización Cultural Lumbanga'', ''Colectivo de mujeres Luanda'', ''Comparsa de la ONG Oro Negro'', ''Comparsa Tumba Carnaval'', ''Club del adulto mayor Julia Corvacho'' and ''Agrupación Arica Negro''. These entities are coordinated through the Afro-Chilean Alliance.

Notable Afro-Chileans

Historical figures

* , conquistador (

Afro-Spanish Afro-Spaniards are Spanish people of African descent, including North Africa, Sub-Saharan Africa and those of Afro-Caribbean, African American or Afro Latin American descent. The Spanish government does not collect data on ethnicity or racial se ...

, from

Guadalajara, Spain Guadalajara ( , ) is a city and municipality in Spain, located in the autonomous community of Castilla–La Mancha. It is the capital of the Province of Guadalajara. Guadalajara lies on the central part of the Iberian Peninsula at roughly me ...

) * , soldier in the

Chilean War of Independence The Chilean War of Independence (Spanish language, Spanish: ''Guerra de la Independencia de Chile'', 'War of Independence of Chile') was a military and political event that allowed the emancipation of Chile from the Spanish Empire, Spanish Mona ...

(African mother) *

Juan Valiente Juan Valiente (1505? – 1553) was an African-Spanish conquistador and encomendero. He participated in the expeditions of Pedro de Alvarado in present-day Guatemala and Peru and Pedro de Valdivia in Chile. Taken into captivity as a slave in Afri ...

, conquistador (Afro-Spanish, originally from

Senegal Senegal, officially the Republic of Senegal, is the westernmost country in West Africa, situated on the Atlantic Ocean coastline. It borders Mauritania to Mauritania–Senegal border, the north, Mali to Mali–Senegal border, the east, Guinea t ...

)

Political figures

Marta Salgado Marta Victoria Salgado Henríquez (born 23 March 1947) is a Chilean activist who focuses on promoting cultural preservation and civil rights protections for the African diaspora. She has founded several non-governmental organizations to promote ...

, activist for Afro-Chilean rights (

Mulatto ( , ) is a Race (human categorization), racial classification that refers to people of mixed Sub-Saharan African, African and Ethnic groups in Europe, European ancestry only. When speaking or writing about a singular woman in English, the ...

parents)

Artists and Writers

* Mario Carreño, painter (Cuban naturalized Chilean) * , singer (Haitian naturalized Chilean) * , author, screenwriter, comedian (Cuban naturalized Chilean) * , musician (Cuban naturalized Chilean) *

Polimá WestCoast Polimá Ngangu Eduardo Miguel Orellana (born August 29, 1997), known professionally as Polimá WestCoast, is a Chilean rapper and singer. His musical style is defined as Latin trap and reggaeton. He is one of the better known figures of the Chi ...

, singer (Angolan father)

Sportspeople

Basketball

* , basketball player (

Afro-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

naturalized Chilean) * Darrol Jones, basketball player (Afro-American father) * Ziomara Morrison, basketball player (

Afro-Panamanian Afro-Panamanians are Panamanians of African descent. The population can be mainly broken into two categories: "Afro-Colonials", those descended from slaves brought to Panama during the colonial period; and "Afro-Antilleans", West Indian immigran ...

father)

Football

* Aaron Astudillo, footballer (Venezuelan naturalized Chilean) *

José Balbuena José Balbuena Rodríguez (February 13, 1918 – June 22, 2009) was a Peruvian-Chilean footballer who played for clubs in Peru and Chile. Club career After became the champion of the 1938 Peruvian Primera División along with Deportivo Municip ...

, footballer (

naturalized Chilean) * Augusto Barrios, footballer ( Afro-descendant grandfather) * Occupé Bayenga, footballer (Congolese naturalized Chilean) *

Jean Beausejour Jean André Emanuel Beausejour Coliqueo (; born 1 June 1984) is a Chilean former professional association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Wing-back, left-sided wing-back. He played in Chile, Switzerland, Bra ...

, footballer and sports commentator (Haitian father) *

Pedro Campos Pedro Henrique de Andrade Lima Carneiro Campos (born 28 October 1995) is a Brazilian civil engineer and politician, affiliated with the Brazilian Socialist Party (PSB). He was elected as a federal deputy from the state of Pernambuco in 2022. He ...

, footballer (Cuban father) *

Omar Carabalí Gabriel Omar Carabalí Quiñonez (born June 12, 1997), known as Omar Carabalí, is an Ecuadorian- Chilean footballer who plays as goalkeeper for O'Higgins in the Chilean Primera División. Born in Ecuador, Carabalí has also represented Chile in ...

, footballer (

Afro-Ecuadorian Afro-Ecuadorians (), also known as Black Ecuadorians (), are Ecuadorians of predominantly Sub-Saharan African descent. History and background Most Afro-Ecuadorians are the descendants of enslaved Africans who were transported by predominantly B ...

naturalized Chilean) * Pablo Cárdenas, footballer (Afro-Peruvian father) * Segundo Castillo, footballer (Afro-Peruvian naturalized Chilean) * Laura De La Torre (

Afro-Colombian Afro-Colombians (), also known as Black Colombians (), are Colombians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Colombia has one of the largest African diaspora, Afro-descendant populations in South America, with government ...

naturalized Chilean) *

Junior Fernandes Antenor Junior Fernandes da Silva Vitoria (; born 10 April 1988), better known as Junior Fernandes, is a Chilean professional footballer who plays as a forward for Turkish club Esenler Erokspor. Club career Cobreloa The son of Brazilian pare ...

, footballer (

Afro-Brazilian Afro-Brazilians (; ), also known as Black Brazilians (), are Brazilians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Most multiracial Brazilians also have a range of degree of African ancestry. Brazilians whose African features are mo ...

parents) * Willian Gama, footballer (Afro-Brazilian naturalized Chilean) * Guillermo Larios, footballer (Afro-Peruvian parents) *

Paulo Magalhães Paulo Cézar Magalhães Lobos (born 14 December 1989) is a Chilean footballer who plays as a full-back for Deportes Rengo in the Segunda División Profesional de Chile. Early life Magalhães was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil to a Brazilian fath ...

, footballer (Afro-Brazilian father) * Nayel Mehssatou, footballer (Moroccan father) * Carlos Mina, footballer (Afro-Colombian naturalized Chilean) * César Munder, footballer (Cuban naturalized Chilean) *

Joao Ortiz Joao Ortiz may refer to: * Joao Ortiz (Chilean footballer) (born 1991), Chilean footballer * Joao Ortiz (Ecuadorian footballer) (born 1996), Ecuadorian footballer {{hndis, Ortiz, Joao ...

, footballer (Afro-Peruvian father) *

Pablo Pasache Pablo Pasache (born 1 February 1915 – 1990) was a Peruvian-Chilean footballer who played as a midfielder. Career As a football midfielder, Pasache played for Deportivo Municipal and Universitario in his country of birth. As a member of Univer ...

, footballer and coach (Afro-Peruvian naturalized Chilean) * Sebastien Pineau, footballer (Afro-Peruvian mother) *

Adrián Sahibeddine Adrián Luciano Santos Sahibeddine (born 24 August 1994), known as Adrián Sahibeddine, is a French-Chilean professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for French club Louhans-Cuiseaux. Professional career Sahibeddine began playing foot ...

, footballer (Moroccan grandfather) * Mary Valencia (Afro-Colombian naturalized Chilean) * Miguel Vargas, footballer (Afro-Peruvian father) *

Lawrence Vigouroux Lawrence Ian Vigouroux (born 19 November 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Swansea City. Vigouroux has a Chilean father and Jamaican mother, and has represented Chile as a youth international level. Club car ...

, footballer (Jamaican mother)

Other sports

* Julio Acosta, weightlifter (Cuban naturalized Chilean) *

Yasmani Acosta Yasmani Acosta Fernández (born 16 July 1988) is a Chilean-Cuban Greco-Roman wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestler competing in the Wrestling weight classes#Men's Greco-Roman wrestling, 130-kilogram weight class. Born in Cuba, he now represents Chil ...

, Greco-Roman wrestler (Cuban naturalized Chilean) * Berdine Castillo, athlete (Haitian naturalized Chilean) * Oliver Elliot, swimmer ( Afro-British father) * Santiago Ford, athlete (Cuban naturalized Chilean) *

Arley Méndez Arley Méndez Perez (born 31 December 1993) is a Chilean weightlifter, World Champion and two-time Pan American Champion competing in the 85 kg category until 2018 and 89 kg starting in 2018 after the International Weightlifting Federati ...

, weightlifter (Cuban naturalized Chilean)

Media personalities

* Steevens Benjamin, actor (Haitian naturalized Chilean) * Juan Falcón, actor (Cuban naturalized Chilean) *

Paloma Elsesser Paloma Kai Shockley Elsesser (born April 12, 1992) is an American plus-size model and influencer. In 2023, she was the first plus-size model to win Fashion Awards for Model of the Year. She also walked for Victoria's Secret Fashion Show in late ...

, model (African-American mother, Swiss and Chilean father)

In fiction

* "''Benito Cereno''", short story in ''

The Piazza Tales ''The Piazza Tales'' is a collection of six short stories by American writer Herman Melville, published by Dix & Edwards in the United States in May 1856 and in Britain in June. Except for the newly written title story, "The Piazza," all of the ...

'' by

Herman Melville Herman Melville (Name change, born Melvill; August 1, 1819 – September 28, 1891) was an American novelist, short story writer, and poet of the American Renaissance (literature), American Renaissance period. Among his best-known works ar ...

that features a Chilean sea captain and his slave ship. * "''El bandido''", poem in ''Leyendas nacionales'' by

Salvador Sanfuentes Salvador Sanfuentes (February 2, 1817 – July 17, 1860) was a Chilean lawyer, politician and poet. He served as Minister of Justice and Public Worship twice, and was elected as MP for the Association of Vallenar. Sanfuentes was appointed inte ...

. *''El Mulato Riquelme'',

historical novel Historical fiction is a literary genre in which a fictional plot takes place in the setting of particular real historical events. Although the term is commonly used as a synonym for historical fiction literature, it can also be applied to oth ...

Fernando Santiván Fernando Santiván (pseudonym of Fernando Antonio Santibañez Puga, 1 July 1886 12 July 1973) was a Chilean writer renowned for winning the Chilean National Prize for Literature in 1952. Life and career Early life Born in Arauco, Chile, Arauc ...

.El Mulato Riquelme
/ref> * Gustavo Fring, character in the ''

Breaking Bad ''Breaking Bad'' is an American crime drama television series created and produced by Vince Gilligan for AMC (TV channel), AMC. Set and filmed in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the series follows Walter White (Breaking Bad), Walter White (Bryan Cran ...

'' and ''

Better Call Saul ''Better Call Saul'' is an American legal crime drama television series created by Vince Gilligan and Peter Gould for AMC. Part of the ''Breaking Bad'' franchise, it is a spin-off of Gilligan's previous series, ''Breaking Bad'' (2008–201 ...

'' television series.

References

External links

Afrodescendants Foundation in Chile
{{Ethnic groups in Chile Chilean Ethnic groups in Chile

History

Atlantic slave trade

Slavery in Arica

Afro-Peruvian soldier-settlers in Valdivia

War of Independence

Ban of slavery

Annexation of Arica

Modernity

Cultural Contributions

Cueca and Zamacueca Chilena

Tumbe

Current issues and discrimination

Afro-Chilean organizations

Notable Afro-Chileans

Historical figures

Political figures

Artists and Writers

Sportspeople

Basketball

Football

Other sports

Media personalities

In fiction

See also

References

External links