San Miguel, in eastern El Salvador, played a central role in the country’s colonial economy, where thousands of enslaved Africans were forced to labor in gold mining and indigo, sugar, and cacao production. Many of the region’s current residents are descendants of Afro-mestizx and Afro-Indigenous communities, though formal recognition of Black identity has long been denied. While El Salvador is often imagined as a homogeneously mestizx nation, San Miguel reveals a deeper, often suppressed African legacy. Black Salvadorans continue to face erasure and discrimination, shaped by whitening policies and anti-Black migration laws of the 20th century. Yet African influence endures in food, language, music, and everyday cultural practices, pointing to a persistent, if marginalized, Black presence.
Afro-descendants have been present in El Salvador since the 16th century, when over 10,000 enslaved Africans were brought by Spanish colonizers to work in gold mines and on indigo, sugar, and cacao plantations, especially in regions like San Miguel. These Africans, with ancestral ties to Angola, Guinea, and Mozambique, gradually intermarried with Indigenous and Spanish populations, giving rise to Afro-mestizx and Afro-Indigenous communities. By 1779, people of mixed race ancestry made up nearly a third of the population, and in 1824, El Salvador became one of the first nations in the Americas to abolish slavery. Unlike its Central American neighbors, El Salvador did not attract Garífuna or Afro-Antillean migrants due to its lack of a Caribbean coastline, which contributed to the myth that it has no Black population. State-led whitening policies, including 20th century immigration laws under President Maximiliano Hernández Martínez, further erased Black visibility and reinforced mestizx national identity. Today, only around 7,400 people officially identify as Afro-descendant, although African ancestry is more widespread. This erasure continues to affect Afro-Salvadorans, who often face invisibility, stigma, and a lack of recognition. Still, African cultural influence remains embedded in language, cuisine, and traditions, revealing a deeper legacy that challenges dominant narratives of national identity.
Black social and political movements in El Salvador must be understood within the broader context of racialized repression and cultural erasure, particularly under General Maximiliano Hernández Martínez's regime. On January 22, 1932, thousands of Indigenous and campesino workers rose against worsening inequality in what became known as La Matanza, a rebellion led by Agustín Farabundo Martí. Sparked by the loss of land, hunger, and worsening labor conditions under an expanding coffee elite, the uprising was violently suppressed by the military. In its aftermath, the state enacted a campaign of forced assimilation, erasing Indigenous identity through by ascribing to the myth of mestizaje, in which Indigeneity was folklorized or absorbed into a homogenized mestizx identity. Afro-Salvadorans also took part in the rebellion, but their visibility was further diminished the following year when Hernández Martínez enacted a 1933 migration law banning the entry of Black people, Chinese, Malaysians, and others deemed racially undesirable. This policy reinforced the idea that Blackness had no place in the Salvadoran nation and led to expulsions of people with African features along the country's borders, further marginalizing Afro-descendants.
In recent years, however, digital platforms have become important spaces of recognition and resistance. Organizations like AFROOS (Fundación Afrodescendientes Organizados Salvadoreños) use Instagram and online media to amplify Afro-Salvadoran stories through digital galleries, cultural events, and political education. One of the most significant moments of visibility is Salvadoran Afro-descendants Day, celebrated annually on August 29 during the country's Black History Month. First established in 2014, the day features music, dance, food, and heritage celebrations. In 2021, AFROOS organized "Arte Afrogosto," an art initiative inviting local illustrators to visually represent 31 African-origin words used in Salvadoran Spanish, such as Pachanga, Ruco, and Zombi, reflecting the depth of African cultural influence in everyday life. Despite ongoing structural challenges, these movements demonstrate the resilience and creativity of Afro-Salvadorans in reclaiming space, language, and identity.
● AFROOS (Fundación Afrodescendientes Organizados Salvadoreños) — Salvadoran organization founded in 2012 to advocate for the constitutional recognition and rights of Afro-Salvadorans through legal, social, and digital activism.
● Miguel Ángel Ibarra — Writer and activist who authored Cafetos en Flor, the first Salvadoran book to self-identify its author as Afro-descendant, and survived a death sentence for his role in the 1932 uprising.
● #EscuelAfro — Trains Afro-descendant youth leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean, with the Salvadoran chapter—named after Ibarra—run by AFROOS to foster political education and leadership.
● Ana Yency Lemus Chavez — An award-winning Afro-Salvadoran youth activist and founder of AFROOS, recognized for her leadership in promoting anti-racism and Afro-descendant rights in El Salvador.
● Prudencia Ayala — An early 20th century Afro-Indigenous feminist and activist who became the first woman to run for president in Latin America, advocating for women’s rights, anti-imperialism, and Central American unity.
● Cruz, Ingrid. "Afro Salvadorans Faced Erasure. Now They Are Reclaiming Their Place in the Country’s History." Los Angeles Times. October 10, 2023. https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2023-10-10/afro-latinos-el-salvador-history.
● Cuéllar, Jorge E. "Elimination/Deracination: Colonial Terror, La Matanza, and the 1930s Race Laws in El Salvador." American Indian Culture and Research Journal 42, no. 2 (2018): 39–56.
● Hack, William. "A Description of the Plantations & Setlements in the Valley of Tepaca." National Maritime Museum, Greenwich, London, 1685.
https://www.rmg.co.uk/collections/objects/rmgc-object-541213.
● Nuñez, Breena. "I Exist!" The Nib. February 19, 2020. https://thenib.com/afro-salvadoran-identity/.
● Sibrian, Sofía. "La Importante Contribución de La Comunidad Afrodescendiente En El Salvador." Red DT SV. August 31, 2023. https://www.desarrolloterritorialsv.org/post/la-importante-contribuci%C3%B3n-de-la-comunidad-afrodescendiente-en-el-salvador.
BCA is a platform dedicated to amplifying Black Central American history, culture, and scholarship. Through curated content, innovative programming, and collaborative initiatives, we explore the collective memory, cultural and political organizing, and creative place-making practices of Black Central American communities across the isthmus and its diasporas.
