Movilidades y resistencias de los caribes negros. Pasado y presente de los garífuna

Abstract

The black Caribs, or Garifuna, have populated the Caribbean coasts of four Central American countries (Belize, Guatemala, Honduras and Nicaragua) since the end of the eighteenth century. Through a continual process of migration begun in the mid-twentieth century, much of its population currently lives in the United States. The transnationality of the original establishment of their community in Central America and that of their more recent presence in the U.S. have always been accompanied by a rich flow of identity symbols. These symbols articulate diverse ethno-racial representations that have transformed due to the impact of national, global and regional political and social processes to the point of becoming generically identified as a part of the larger Afro-descendent community. This article aims to present, from a historical perspective, the dynamics of the construction of Garifuna identities, the actors involved in these processes and their political dynamics.