[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 96 (Friday, July 15, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1507-E1508]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             BUILDING BETTER RELATIONS WITH AFRO-COLOMBIANS

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. CHARLES B. RANGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                        Thursday, July 14, 2005

  Mr. RANGEL. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to the attention of my 
colleagues an important visit by a delegation of Afro-Colombian leaders 
to Washington this week. The Vice President of the Colombian House of 
Representatives, the Honorable Dr. Edgar Torres, and the Governor of 
Choco, the Honorable Dr. Julio Ibarguen are the leaders of this 
auspicious delegation. These Afro-Colombian leaders have come to the 
United States to raise the awareness of the conditions of the Afro-
Colombian community in Colombia, most specifically the province of 
Choco, and to request congressional assistance in obtaining and 
directing resources to the problems of this community.
  Representing a quarter of Colombia's population, Afro-Colombians are 
two-thirds of the nation's extreme poor, have illiteracy of 45 percent, 
and have inadequate access to health care. They have lower standards of 
living than most other groups in Colombia. They often live in isolated 
and remote communities with little access for advancement and 
improvement.
  As a leader in the legislative chamber, Dr. Torres is one of the most 
influential Afro-Colombians in the nation and has worked to raise 
awareness of the struggle of Afro-Colombians. He has championed and 
pursued greater multinational awareness and assistance for the people 
of Colombia. He has worked to raise the issue to the global community 
of the impoverishment and challenges facing his people. Dr. Torres has 
been a powerful, important and poignant voice for the struggle and 
desire for equality among Afro-Colombians.
  The department of Choco has the highest percentage of Afro-Colombians 
in the country. It also has the lowest per-capita level of government 
investment in health, education, and infrastructure. The people of 
Choco suffer daily with poverty, illiteracy, lack of medical care, and 
lack of opportunity. They have great plans for advancement but little 
opportunity.
  Governor Ibarguen has worked to improve the infrastructure for the 
province. He has advanced plans and strategies designed to provide new 
hope and opportunity to the people of Choco and to address the pressing 
and urgent needs of the community. He has seen firsthand the hardship 
and misery of Afro-Colombians and works with local, national, and 
international agencies to overcome these daunting challenges. He 
nonetheless could use the assistance and aid of the 109th Congress and 
the American people.

  These Afro-Colombian leaders are here in Washington to build a 
dialogue with the international community on behalf of the people of 
Colombia. They are trying to find allies and alliances with leaders of 
this country and the international community to help wage the fight for 
self-sufficiency and equal treatment of Afro-Colombians. They should be 
commended in their efforts to reach out and ask for our assistance. We 
should be gracious in our commitment to help their cause. They are 
trying to reach out to us and we must be prepared to respond.
  There are a number of opportunities available to this Congress to 
reach out to the Colombian people, and Afro-Colombians in particular. 
In August, there will be a dialogue hosted in Colombia to raise the 
awareness of the Afro-Colombian challenge. I and other members of the 
Congressional Black Caucus have extended our support to these efforts 
and I hope my colleagues in the House will join us. My colleague, the 
Honorable Gregory Meeks, is already planning a congressional delegation 
to visit the country and to participate in the dialogue on race.
  In addition to these congressional activities, the Pan American 
Development Foundation and the Afro-Latino Development Alliance are 
providing important information, awareness, and assistance to the Afro-
Colombian struggle. They are hosting Dr. Torres and Dr. Ibarguen in 
their visit and tour this week. They have played an indomitable role in 
finding opportunities for assisting Afro-Colombians. I expect that 
these organizations will continue their hard work on behalf of Afro-
Colombians.
  The United States has provided substantial assistance to the 
Government of Colombia, most of it through Plan Colombia to assist the 
Government of Colombia in waging war against political insurgents and 
narcotics traffickers. The Afro-Colombian delegation believes that a 
shift in resources from military to economic development purposes in 
communities such as the Choco province will achieve greater success 
than our military assistance.
  It is important that this Congress take action to help the Afro-
Colombian people. It is unconscionable to think that an entire group of 
people would suffer in this manner in this day and age. We must do more 
as the representatives of this caring and loving nation. I urge my 
colleagues to reach out to Dr. Torres and Dr. Ibarguen while they are 
here this week. I urge my colleagues to extend aid and assistance to 
Afro-Colombian populations.
  I have introduced the following resolution (House Concurrent 
Resolution 175) to encourage greater assistance and recognition to 
Afro-descendant populations throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. 
This resolution is another step in addressing the Afro-Colombian 
struggle. I submit this copy of the resolution into the Record.

                         Concurrent Resolution

       Acknowledging African descendants of the transatlantic 
     slave trade in all of the Americas with an emphasis on 
     descendants in Latin America and the Caribbean, recognizing 
     the injustices suffered by these African descendants, and 
     recommending that the United States and the international 
     community work to improve the situation of Afro-descendant 
     communities in Latin America and the Caribbean.
       Whereas during Black History Month it is important that we 
     not forget that African-Americans are not the only survivors 
     of the transatlantic slave trade;
       Whereas like the United States, many European nations 
     benefited greatly from the colonization of Latin America and 
     the Caribbean and their participation in the slave trade;
       Whereas the story of African descendants in all of the 
     Americas remains untold, leading them to be forgotten, made 
     invisible, and allowed to suffer unjustly;
       Whereas it is important to acknowledge that as a result of 
     the slave trade and immigration, approximately 80,000,000 to 
     150,000,000 persons of African descent live in Latin America 
     and the Caribbean, making them the largest population of 
     persons of African descent outside of Africa;
       Whereas Afro-descendants are present in most all Latin 
     American countries, including Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, 
     Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, 
     Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela;
       Whereas the size of Afro-descendant populations vary in 
     range from less than 1 percent in some countries to as much 
     as 30 percent in Colombia and 46 percent in Brazil and make 
     up the majority in some Spanish speaking Caribbean nations, 
     such as Cuba and the Dominican Republic;
       Whereas Afro-descendant populations have made significant 
     economic, social, and cultural contributions to their 
     countries and the Western Hemisphere from their unfortunate 
     involvement in the transatlantic slave

[[Page E1508]]

     trade to their recent contributions to trade, tourism, and 
     other industries;
       Whereas although persons of African descent have made 
     significant achievements in education, employment, economic, 
     political, and social spheres in some countries, the vast 
     majority are marginalized--living in impoverished communities 
     where they are excluded from centers of education, 
     government, and basic human rights based upon the color of 
     their skin and ancestry;
       Whereas Afro-descendants have shorter life expectancies, 
     higher rates of infant mortality, higher incidences of HIV/
     AIDS, higher rates of illiteracy, and lower incomes than do 
     other populations;
       Whereas Afro-descendants encounter problems of access to 
     healthcare, basic education, potable water, housing, land 
     titles, credit, equal justice and representation under the 
     law, political representation, and other economic, political, 
     health, and basic human rights; and
       Whereas skin color and ancestry have led African-Americans 
     in the United States and African descendants in Latin America 
     and the Caribbean to share similar injustices, leading to 
     economic, social, health, and political inequalities: Now, 
     therefore, be it
       Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate 
     concurring), That Congress--
       (1) recognizes and honors African descendants in the 
     Americas for their contributions to the economic, social, and 
     cultural fabric of the countries in the Americas, 
     particularly in Latin American and Caribbean societies;
       (2) recognizes that as a result of their skin color and 
     ancestry, African descendants in the Americas have wrongfully 
     experienced economic, social, and political injustices;
       (3) urges the President to take appropriate measures to 
     encourage the celebration and remembrance of the achievements 
     of African descendants in the Americas and a resolution of 
     injustices suffered by African descendants in the Americas;
       (4) encourages the United States and the international 
     community to work to ensure that extreme poverty is 
     eradicated, universal education is achieved, quality 
     healthcare is made available, sustainable environmental 
     resources, including land where applicable, is provided, and 
     equal access to justice and representation under the law is 
     granted in Afro-descendant communities in Latin America and 
     the Caribbean; and
       (5) encourages the United States and the international 
     community to achieve these goals in Latin America and the 
     Caribbean by--
       (A) promoting research that focuses on identifying and 
     eradicating racial disparities in economic, political, and 
     social spheres;
       (B) promoting, funding, and creating development programs 
     that focus on Afro-descendant communities;
       (C) providing technical support and training to Afro-
     descendant advocacy groups that work to uphold basic human 
     rights in the region;
       (D) promoting the creation of an international working 
     group that focuses on problems of communities of Afro-
     descendants in the Americas; and
       (E) promoting trade and other bilateral and multilateral 
     agreements that take into account the needs of Afro-
     descendant communities.

                          ____________________