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Members of the Cimarrona Guard face the statue of Benkos Biohó in San Basilio de Palenque.
Article written and researched by Sam Arrieta, Maria Camila Castaño & Sofia Hernandez.
“The Cimarrona Guard is part of our blood as Palenqueros. We understand that our way of living has to endure from one generation to another, and that's why we won't let it die.”
-Ricardo Hernández Navarro, president of the Cimarrona Guard of San Basilio de Palenque.
The Cimarrona Guard is an Afro-Colombian community self-protection initiative that seeks to maintain the peace and protect their territory autonomously in the face of threats from external interests. The members of the Guard face the constant challenge of interacting with different types of armed actors, always aiming to solve issues through dialogue and the peaceful resolution of conflicts.
San Basilio de Palenque is known as the first free town in the Americas because it was established by escaped slaves led by Benkos Biohó in 1691. Since then it has continued to be a symbol of African and latterly Afro-Colombian resistance and identity. The children and adolescents of San Basilio de Palenque, located close to the colonial port city of Cartagena in the north of Colombia, are raised with the conviction clinging to their bones that dialogue should prevail over force or repression. For this reason, an authority was established in which force and harassment would take a back seat, after the bloody and courageous fight that allowed Palenque's freedom from the Spanish yoke. Thus was born, as a valuable ancestral treasure, the Cimarrona Guard.
Three centuries after their independence, the village appears to have changed very little. The glaring absence of the government is evident. People do not have recycling or wastewater treatment systems and they drink potentially contaminated water from an old well. Electricity did not arrive until 1971, only then due to the intervention of the world boxing champion Antonio “Kid Pambélé” Cervantes. This despite the town being but a 45 minute drive from the bustling tourist city of Cartagena.
A palenque was, during colonialism, a village composed of freed and/or runaway slaves; San Basilio de Palenque is the only one that has survived to the present day, with its cultural identity remaining intact. For this reason, UNESCO inscribed the cultural space of San Basilio de Palenque on the Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008. As well as passing down ancestral practices, such as percussion, dance, story-telling and other customs such as the intricate braiding of hair, which is said to have helped communicate escape routes during the colonization era, and also traditional practices for the cultivation of food sources. The town also possesses linguistic autonomy in the form of Palenquero which is their traditional language. The Cimarrona Guards play a fundamental role in maintaining and promoting the language today, as is reflected in the many projects and missions that the guard carries out in their territory, such as teaching the children and young people of Palenque in their traditional language at school, without excluding the teaching of Spanish from the school curriculum. The Palenquero language had been stigmatized for a long time, inside and outside of Palenque, and it has been used as an instrument of cultural resistance for the black community settled there against racism and ethnic discrimination. Until a few years ago, children were forbidden to use the Palenquero language at school; they could only learn it at home and it was considered a “poorly spoken Spanish”. Palenquero is the only Creole language with a Spanish lexical base that has survived in the Caribbean, and because of this, it is recognized as a linguistic treasure. The basis of this language is made up of the various African languages spoken by the ancestors of the founders of San Basilio de Palenque in addition to aspects of Spanish. In addition to their linguistic autonomy, the village has also maintained a certain political autonomy, which prevents the police from freely entering their territory, allowing the residents to create their own community self-protection initiative.
As addressed in the previous paragraph, the history of this community dates back to the colonization era. The Palenque community, after gaining freedom, faced a wave of constant violence in the country, historically and upto recent times. During the armed conflict in Colombia (ongoing since the 1960s) many illegal groups and paramilitaries, at different times, have threatened this community, in order to gain more power not only from the land they live on, but also by forcing them to do things for illegal benefits. Government also plays an important role. Throughout Colombia, there appears to be a deliberate silence from the government regarding the atrocities faced by traditionally isolated and marginalized communities and, even though they have tried establishing dialogues and recognizing their rights, there is still many things to do that have not been addressed or well executed, such as how to actually deal with the illegal actors that are threatening the community and the Guard itself.
“We don’t want to have any relations with governmental military forces, illegal groups or the police. Here, we enforce Palenque law, not national law,”
-Jesús Palomino, an anthropologist from Palenque.
The Community of San Basilio de Palenque has developed a very detailed organization related to its functioning and structure. These are fundamental when it comes to survival and preservation, and the Cimarrona Guard represents this structure precisely. Being aware of the historical events that have formed this guard, it is also evident that the organization contributes by raising their voices towards situations of injustice, like the threats they have faced from illegal groups who want them to leave San Basilio de Palenque, or cease their community work and work for them, in order to take control of the area.
Within the community, social organization is based on family networks and age groups called “ma kuagro,” forming ties between members via a system of rights and duties. Everyone participates in community life, and its protection, in one way or another. There are also external actors, like Afro-Colombian associations and collectives, that contribute to the labor of the guard and assists in their training, thus impacting the recreation of projects like this one in different parts of the country, following the same organization and values.
Afro-Colombian communities are located throughout Colombia and many face similar challenges such as state neglect, the presence of illegal armed structures, and the interests of those involved in legal and illegal mineral extraction in their territories. Many of these disparate communities have looked towards San Basilio de Palenque and their Cimarrona Guards for guidance. Caracas Armando is a member of “Proceso de Comunidades Negras'' (PCN), a Colombian political project which works for ethnical minorities and Afro-Colombian people to be included in the construction of Colombia and their policies, and is also a member of “Asociación de Consejos Comunitarios del Norte del Cauca'' (Aconc), a Colombian ethnic organization that helps with organizational process of Afro-Colombian communities and its councils organizations. Caracas (2015) explained how the Cimarrona Guard of Palenque inspired the creation of the Guard in the north of Cauca, a department located in the southwestern part of Colombia, far from the northern coast of the country where Palenque is found. He also described its formation and the similarities between both Guards, both operating at a department level. In 2015 there were approximately 840 organisms that were divided in order to take care of the communities' protection, and in each smaller community there are councils in which one person serves as a representative. Those representatives communicate everything that is currently happening in their community and will act on behalf of their community’s interests. However, like the challenges and dangers faced by Palenque during the 80s and 90s, the Cimarrona Guards and the communities they represent and protect face threats and violence in departments such as Cauca, Norte del Cauca and Choco due to the ongoing conflict which ravages across much of rural Colombia.
The existence of the Cimarrona Guard has been successfully inherited thanks to education, which has become an important issue for the organization. Through education, the guard has achieved awareness of the reality their community is facing with discrimination, not just from the rest of the country but also from the government, and the need to preserve their endangered culture through teaching younger generations. This approach represents an effective way to keep ancestral traditions alive. The children who grew up with their parents' instilled respect for the Cimarrona Guard live in a different world today. Some, as the elder ones admit, seem infatuated with the impulses of youth. However, in the midst of all the changes of modernity, those who are part of the guard are not willing to let their authority and invaluable tradition die overnight. Unfortunately, given the worrying security situation throughout many parts of Colombia, the Cimarrona guards continue to be needed as an effective form of community defense, in addition to their cultural significance.
“Today, although the kids are different, their parents continue to instill in them respect for us as authorities and that is what we fight for every day.”
-Ricardo Hernández Navarro, president of the Cimarrona Guard of San Basilio de Palenque.
Everything outlined in this article gives an indication of the immense importance that these communities’ youth and their leaders hold in our society. State presence in big cities and state absence in rural areas has left multiple power vacuums around the country and the Cimarrona Guard was established to fill this power vacuum. This state absence, in addition to the presence of illegal groups, means that these communities must look after their own interests. Another important factor is of course the issue of land, and how best to utilize it in places like Palenque, Cauca and elsewhere in Colombia. Local community interests are often contrary to those pursued by the national government and a number of multinationals intent on extraction and exploitation of valuable resources. These are some of the biggest reasons they are still fighting for autonomous power, reconciliation and peace. The Guard also stands for freedom and preservation of their land and people, having been a shield for the communities living in those areas as well as for the environment.
To close this article, we would like to encourage more awareness and interest on behalf of readers regarding organizations like the Cimarrona Guard which seek recognition of their rights and identity as well as reconciliation for the historical abuse they have suffered. This should be their only struggle and we should be outraged that organizations and indeed communities such as the ones outlined in this text continue to have to defend themselves against violence and the economic interests of third parties. A focus on such groups will lead to more and more cases that can be analyzed and much more information to explore that will lead Colombians, and foreigners, to have a much clearer perspective of the situation faced by these communities who represent our past, present and future.
Resources used while writing this article:
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