Mario Roberto Maldonado
Afro-descendants and Garifuna in Guatemala: Two identities, one history seeking greater visibility
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Mario Roberto Maldonado
Afro-descendants and Garifuna in Guatemala: Two identities, one history seeking greater visibility
Guatemala is a multicultural, multilingual, and megadiverse country where Indigenous, European, and African roots have come together to shape a diverse, dynamic identity from centuries past to the present. Its territory—rich in natural beauty from the highland mountains to the Caribbean and Pacific coasts—has been the stage for continuous cultural exchange reflected in its art, cuisine, languages, traditions, and worldviews. In this mosaic of peoples and expressions, cultural diversity is not only a defining feature of the country but also a source of creativity, knowledge, and resilience that continues to nourish Guatemalan social life today.
Historically, it is important to note that the presence of people of African descent in Guatemala has deep roots dating back to the Hispanic era. From the sixteenth century onward, African men and women were brought as part of the slave system imposed by the Spanish Crown. Their labor was fundamental in the construction of cities, sugar mills, estates, and ports, particularly in the Caribbean regions and the Central Valley. Over time, however, African heritage was silenced and rendered invisible in the country’s official narrative, absorbed into a mestizo identity or associated solely with the Garifuna population.
The Garifuna people, in turn, have a distinct origin, although also linked to Africa. Their history begins in the seventeenth century, when enslaved Africans were shipwrecked on the island of Saint Vincent in the Caribbean and mixed with Arawak and Carib Indigenous peoples. From that fusion a new cultural identity emerged: the Garifuna, or “Black Caribs.” After conflicts with British colonizers, they were expelled in 1797 to the island of Roatán, in present-day Honduras. From there, Garifuna groups migrated to the coasts of Belize and Guatemala, settling mainly in Livingston, Izabal, in the early nineteenth century.
The term Afro-descendant encompasses all people and communities of African ancestry, beyond any single cultural group. In Guatemala, this population has maintained a dispersed but constant presence across various regions of the country, especially along the southern coast and in the Caribbean. Their contribution has been decisive in shaping national identity, though it has rarely been acknowledged.
Afro-descendants have enriched Guatemala’s music, dance, gastronomy, religion, and daily life. Elements such as son rhythms, the marimba, Creole cuisine, and linguistic expressions within Guatemalan Spanish carry African influences that often go unnoticed. Today, several organizations are working to recover and make this heritage visible, reclaiming Afro-Guatemalan pride and combating structural racial discrimination.
Garifuna culture, for its part, represents a unique collective identity recognized by UNESCO as a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity since 2001, and later as Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity in 2008—a distinction shared among Guatemala, Belize, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Its language, music, and worldview stand as living examples of cultural resilience. The Garifuna language, of Arawak origin with African and French influences, remains alive primarily in the communities of Livingston and Puerto Barrios.
Garifuna music and dance, expressed in genres such as punta, yankunu, and gunjéi, convey the people’s history and spirituality, accompanied by drums, maracas, and collective chants. Garifuna religion blends Catholic elements with ancestral African practices, featuring rituals such as the dugu, which honors the ancestors. Their cuisine, based on coconut, plantain, and seafood, reflects their connection with the Caribbean coastal environment. The Congress of the Republic of Guatemala, through Decree 83-96, established Garifuna Day on November 26, commemorating the heritage and cultural significance of the Garifuna people in Guatemala.
Although the Garifuna are part of the broader Afro-descendant family, not all Afro-descendants in Guatemala are Garifuna. The difference lies in the fact that the Garifuna constitute a people with their own ethnic identity, language, and territory, whereas Afro-descendants comprise a broader and more diverse population that shares African roots but not necessarily a specific culture or a homogeneous community.
Recognizing the differences between Afro-descendants and Garifuna does not mean dividing; it means naming and valuing the internal diversity of African roots in Guatemala. Both groups share a history of resistance, yet they express their identities through distinct and complementary cultural manifestations that make Guatemala a country of profound and rich diversity.
The XII National Population and Housing Census (2018) by Guatemala’s National Institute of Statistics (INE) is the most recent official nationwide reference. Among its ethnic self-identification results are the following relevant figures:
Maya: 41.7% of the population
Ladino (or non-Indigenous): 56.0%
Xinka: 1.8%
Garifuna: 0.1% of the population
Afro-descendant / Creole / Afro-mestizo: 0.2% of the population
This 2018 census recorded a total population of 14.9 million people. These percentages indicate that those who self-identified as Garifuna or as Afro-descendants are numerically small groups at the national level, which contributes to their limited political and media visibility.
At the subnational level, geographic concentration is clear: the largest presence of the Garifuna people is found in the department of Izabal (in municipalities such as Livingston and Puerto Barrios), where Garifuna community life—language, rituals, music, and communal structures—remains most vibrant. Local data and studies report Garifuna populations in the Caribbean region numbering in the tens of thousands, while the “Afro-descendant/Creole/Afro-mestizo” category appears dispersed across various coastal regions and urban areas, with a less concentrated and more heterogeneous distribution.
It is worth noting that the low percentage recorded in the census also reflects limitations in self-identification (stigma, assimilation, questionnaire design) and historical issues in data collection. Many people of African descent do not self-identify for multiple reasons, meaning the census may underestimate the Afro presence in the country. Research and local organizations have pointed out that, although the percentage is small, African heritage is present in many cultural expressions and socioeconomic sectors throughout Guatemala.
Guatemala’s Peace Accords, signed in 1996, were built around multiple social demands, but the political dynamics of the process and the public agenda prioritized, due to their scale and organization, the Maya peoples and other groups identified as Indigenous. Although the Garifuna people were included within the broader framework of recognition for peoples with distinct identity and territory, the more dispersed Afro-descendant populations—lacking consolidated political representation—were largely left outside the central focus of the negotiations and of the policies implemented after the agreements.
Several factors may explain this, primarily related to political and organizational representation. Those who have a voice in peace processes are usually actors with visible organization and political structure. Much of the Afro-descendant population was not organized with the same political strength as some Indigenous peoples or social movements at the time of the negotiations.
Additionally, legal and administrative classifications have played a role: previous official categorizations and public narratives have tended to make dispersed Afro-descendants invisible or group them under broader categories (such as Ladino or Creole), which hinders their explicit inclusion in instruments technically designed for recognized “peoples” or “communities.” The Guatemalan armed conflict was largely linked to agrarian, Indigenous, and territorial rights claims in the western and central regions. The Afro-Caribbean issue, due to its coastal concentration and distinct sociohistorical configuration, did not occupy the same place on the negotiating agenda.
In the present era, there have been advances and growing recognition for the Garifuna people; however, there remains a deficit in public policies and explicit acknowledgment of the full range of Afro-descendant populations in the country. This situation results in institutional invisibility and limited access to programs aimed at their cultural development, political participation, and cultural rights. Nonetheless, this gap also represents an opportunity—to strengthen their presence and create meaningful spaces for participation, including through sustainable tourism development.
Separate recognition of the Garifuna (a people with their own language, rituals, and territory) and Afro-descendants (a broader category encompassing other historical and social experiences) would allow for the design of more tailored public policies: intercultural bilingual education where appropriate, cultural programs, land titling, identification of sacred sites, as well as health and comprehensive development for all.
Guatemala is currently in the process of strengthening its institutional framework. It must improve registries and surveys to better capture Afro self-identification; support Afro organizations so they can have a voice at public decision-making tables and in national processes; and promote recognition, cultural safeguarding, and measures against discrimination affecting dispersed Afro-descendant populations.
Making the Afro-descendant presence in Guatemala visible is an act of historical and cultural justice. It means recognizing that the country is not only Maya and mestizo, but also Afro—and that its richness lies in its plurality. Properly naming, studying, and celebrating these identities is a way to strengthen a more complete, inclusive, and truthful collective memory. It is also an opportunity to show the world Guatemala’s living cultural wealth.
References
Opie, Frederick Douglass. “African Americans and the State in Early Twentieth-Century Guatemala.” The Americas, vol. 64 (April 2008), no. 4, pp. 583–609.
Hardman, Jesse. “The Garifuna People: History and Culture.” Global Sherpa.
Author: Mario Roberto Maldonado
Architect, diplomat, and PhD in History, Culture, and Diplomacy, Guatemalan, with extensive experience in project management, conservation, and promotion of cultural and natural heritage. Founder of CICOP-Guatemala and former Vice Minister of Cultural and Natural Heritage, he has served as Guatemala’s Permanent Representative to UNESCO and as a leader in cultural tourism, heritage restoration, and the creative economy. Recognized as Tourism Ambassador and awarded the National Order of Cultural Heritage, he integrates architecture, culture, and sustainability in his vision for development.
The authors are responsible for the choice and presentation of the facts contained in this document and for the opinions expressed therein, which are not necessarily those of Tourism and Society Think Tank and do not commit the Organization, and should not be attributed to TSTT or its members.
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