Afro-Venezuelan Day is celebrated in Caracas with an offering to the Liberator

Published at: 11/05/2025 10:53 AM

As part of the celebration of the 20th anniversary of Afro-Venezuelan Day, this Saturday, May 10, authorities of the Government of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela made a floral offering to the equestrian statue of the Liberator, in Plaza Bolívar in Caracas.

The activity, organized by the National Council for the Development of Afro-descendant Communities of Venezuela (CONADECAFRO), included the participation of the Minister of Popular Power for Culture, Ernesto Villegas; the Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs for Africa, Yuri Pimentel; and members of the Diplomatic Corps accredited in the country, accompanied by Afro-descendant candidates for deputies by the forces revolutionaries.

In his speech at the event, Minister Villegas highlighted the demand of Afro-descendant communities on the part of the Bolivarian Revolution. “A worthy son of Africa, Commander Hugo Chávez, had to come on the shoulders of a people, to make a revolution and look at our history in an integral way,” he said.

He recalled that Chávez “abandoning Eurocentrism, which unfortunately prevailed above all after the betrayal of 1830 of the oligarchic republics that emerged in this part of the world after the independence process (...) and made us see that we were not only what until then we saw as a reference for our roots, for our history, he made us transcend the notion of the Creole that replaced the Spanish one and that unfortunately made Afro and indigenous people invisible and preterised. And it turns out that Afro and indigenous people are not the past, they are the present.”

“It couldn't be other than Chávez who established this day as the Day of Afro-Venezuelanism. So, to celebrate these 20 years is to keep in mind the awareness of the 230 that are taking place, of the rebellion that continues, of the rebellion of everyday life, of the drum that continues to sound in our blood, in our chest,” said Villegas.

During the celebration, a plaque was also unveiled in honor of the Afro-descendant revolutionary leader José Leonardo Chirino, in addition to cultural activities that enlivened the day.

MPPRE