Afrolatinos: The untaught story

What is the Afro presence in Nicaragua today?

The producers are studying the history of the black population in Nicaragua.  These were Africans who arrived in British slave ships to the coast of present-day Nicaragua and Honduras.

There is a small but significant population of Afro-Nicaraguan's. The producers are learning about the descendants who arrived from the West Indies as well as the Garifuna community. The Garifuna people came down from Honduras and Belize to look for work, but this is a recent migration.

What was the Treaty of Managua, and how did it affect the blacks that lived in the coast?

Did you know that there is a community in Nicaragua who speak English?  Most Afro-Nicaraguan's speak English as their native language. It is a Creole native English similar to what Jamaicans speak.  They speak Spanish to light skinned Nicos (name for Nicaraguans).

The producers visited the coastal areas of Bluefield’s, like Puerto Cabezas and Pearl Lagoon.

In the coast they celebrate a festival called Palo de Mayo (Maypole)—which is also a music form. This music has its roots in Britain’s May Day celebration and was taken by the Afro-Nicaraguans on the Mosquito Coast and transformed.  You will also find that Punta is danced and Soca, Reggaeton and Reggae music is very popular. In March Afro-Nicaraguans celebrate a carnival called "Alegria por la vida" in Managua.

What was North America’s interest in Nicaragua’s lumber, mining and banana industries? How did the demotion of blacks in top positions affect the Afro community, after being replaced by North Americans and Europeans?  What happened to Nicaragua’s economy when North America pulled out?  How did this affect the Afro-Nicaraguan communities?

Is there racism in Nicaragua?

The producers saw that blacks in Bluefields are isolated from the capital and the rest of the country. There are no roads to Bluefields. What is the relationship between the Mosquitian Blacks and Nicaraguan mestizos? There is a lot of mixing of races and cultures and they live together in harmony. 

In an article Titled: Caribbean Women Face Double Discrimination written by José Adán Silva, about the first discrimination currently taking place in Nicaragua. He writes: “MANAGUA, Mar 20 (IPS) - The first criminal prosecution for racial discrimination in Nicaragua, in response to a complaint brought by a woman lawmaker in the Central American Parliament (PARLACEN), has focused attention on the segregationist treatment of indigenous and Afro-Caribbean women in the Caribbean coastal regions.”

This complaint is based on racial and gender discrimination.  The incident took place when the owners of  “El Chamán discothèque in Managua” refused service and admission to black people—the daughter of a political figure.   The penalty for this and four other discotheques’ is that, "if they are found guilty, they will be fined revenues for 500 days, or be completely shut down."  This sends a positive message to Afro-Latino’s everywhere that feel they are invisible—YOU DON’T HAVE TO STAY SILENT… you are NOT INVISIBLE...there are laws to protect you!

The producers found that for the most part black Nicaraguans are not considered Nicaraguans… it seemed like the Afro community was its own separate country, who are left to fend for themselves and who are completely isolated.  The team hopes that with more dialogue this can change.