Venezuela’s Afro Descendent Front Proposes Program of Action to Confront Racism and Fascism
Venezuela’s Afro Descendent Front Proposes Program of Action to Confront Racism and Fascism
By Arlene Eisen – Venezuelanalysis.com, May 12th 2014
Caracas, 11th May 2014 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - On Saturday, May 10, ignoring the rain, more than 1000 African Descendant Venezuelans flooded the streets in a march from the Venezuelan Central Bank to Miraflores Presidential Palace in downtown Caracas. Members of drumming groups from each of the nation’s states, some in traditional costumes and some wearing t-shirts claiming membership in the Frente Afrodescendientes (Afro descendent Front) had gathered to mark the official Day of Afrovenezolanidad (Afro-Venezuelaness). Although the marchers paralyzed the already-snarled traffic, the drumbeats seemed to pacify the usually-angry blare of car horns.
As they entered the Presidential Palace grounds, the loudspeaker blasted over the drums, “Cimarrones, AfroVenezuelans, welcome to Miraflores, the peoples’ palace,” and “All of Venezuela is Liberated Slave Territory”. A huge billboard with portraits of Hugo Chavez and Nicolas Maduro framed the slogan “Día de Afrovenezolanidad/ Todo la Patria un Cumbe.”[1]
The commemoration at Miraflores, part cultural celebration and part political rally, was the culmination of two days of activities that began Friday in the Rómulo Gallegos Center of Latin American Studies (CELARG). The educational/cultural conference called “Merienda de Negras”[2] at CELARG opened with a film paying homage to Argelia Laya, also known as Comandanta Jacinta. Laya, born in 1926, on a cocoa plantation in Rio Chico, became a teacher in the 1940s and militantly defended the rights of women to education and political participation. She was a Black woman who led struggles for reproductive rights long before most feminist activists. Eventually she became a communist and joined the guerrilla struggle against the dictatorship of the time, and was a founder of the National Organization of Women. Today the university in Barlovento, whose student body is mostly African Descendant, is named after her. Her portrait adorns the entrance of the National Institute for Women in downtown Caracas and many of the speakers at the Miraflores rally cited her heroism.
After the film at CELARG, Reinaldo Jose Bolivar, Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs for Africa, formally opened the conference by noting the leadership of Black people in struggles for liberation beginning with the 1553 rebellion of “El Negro Miguel”. Hugo Chavez first declared the Día de AfroVenezolanidad be celebrated each year on May 10, the anniversary of the insurrection of enslaved people led by Jose Leonardo Chirino in 1795. Two of Argelia Laya’s sons also addressed the group. Coordinated by the Bolivarian University of Venezuela’s Center of African Studies’ Flor Márquez, panels on Saturday focused on the theme, “Women, Struggle, Study and Creativity.”
Racism of the Anti-Government Right Repeatedly Denounced
While celebration of the culture of African Descendant Venezuelans set the rhythm to and permeated the programs at CELARG and Miraflores, a particular political urgency marked this year’s Día de la Afrovenezolanidad. Nirva Camacho, a spokesperson for the National Afro-Venezuelan Front, reiterated a theme of many of the speakers who denounced the racism and violence of the Venezuelan right – the Venezuelan allies of the United States who aim to recolonize Venezuela. She read from a manifesto that affirmed the Front’s commitment to the struggle against colonialism, capitalism and imperialism, in full support of President Maduro’s executive actions and the Bolivarian process. She drew attention to the fact that “there had not been, nor are there any, nor will there be any guarimbas (rightist street barricades) in AfroVenezuelan communities.”
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