The monarchy is, in many countries of the world, synonymous with luxuries, extravagances, protocols, castles and front pages of magazine covers. For the other territories, however, it is a system of government that goes far beyond: it constitutes the living representation of a people which, in the midst of the exuberant vegetation, the particularity of its inhabitants and the richness of its history, seeks to transcend time and re-evaluate the cultural traditions of a lineage that dates back hundreds of years.
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There are many rulers around the world, but few like them Juan Bonifaz Pinedo, the last king of America and, perhaps, the poorest. Although he does not wear a crown or cloak – on special occasions only -, nor sits on a throne or has an exorbitant fortune to brag about, he does a difficult task to accomplish: representing the Afro-Bolivian community.
“I am not like these rich kings of Europe, but I represent the Afro-Bolivian community and this is a great responsibility for me”, is the short but revealing sentence – according to the newspaper ‘La República’ – with which the last Latin Re American Refers to the non-negligible functions it performs in the subtropical zone of the Yungas, a hidden kingdom of two thousand inhabitants located in Bolivia.
More than a political leader, Bonifaz became a symbolic leader, proud of the roots of a people who came face to face with discrimination, invisibility and slavery.. Its legacy surpasses monetary wealth and, on the contrary, contributes to enhancing the diversity which, on some occasions, has been undermined by some dark periods of humanity.
Dressed in a red cloak, Pinedo vowed to “take care of the happiness and well-being of all Afro-Bolivians” after receiving the crown and staff.
Afro-Bolivian royal house
The royal lineage of the ruler Juan Bonifaz Pinedo
Between the 16th and 19th centuries, the transatlantic slave trade emerged as one of the main enemies of African communities: not only were they forced to work on coffee, sugar, tobacco and cotton plantations, in gold and silver mines, in the rice fields, in construction, in the wood industry, in the construction of boats and in families as servants, but they were also victims of processes of acculturation that were, little by little, producing the partial loss of their history.
According to The Conversation, around 12 million people have fallen prey to the transatlantic slave trade. Not even Prince Uchicho, of kikongo origin – son of the king of a Senegalese tribe and later ancestor of Juan Bonifaz – could not resist the “greatest deportation in history” and ended up, like many others, to be part of one of the last contingents of slaves around 1820.
Pierre Jacques Benoit was a Belgian cartoonist and painter who, between 1830 and 1840, published in Europe an illustrated book on the slavery of the African population, free, escaped and enslaved on plantations.
Some pictures of its history: pic.twitter.com/yrleYkf2CJ– Rocio CR (@Amo_elCafe) July 24, 2020
Uchicho worked at the Hacienda del Marqués de Pinedo – from which he would adopt the surname -, in the Los Yungas area, north of the department of La Paz, according to the Afro-Bolivian royal house. It didn’t take long for him to be recognized by slaves in 1832, just over a decade after his arrival in America, for what he really was: a prince of the ancient Congo Kingdom.
Uchicho was bathing in the river and other Africans saw that his torso had scars that resembled members of a tribal royal family.
According to Pineda for ‘BBC’, “Uchicho was bathing in the river and other Africans saw that his torso had scars that resembled members of a royal tribal family”, so they did not hesitate, not even for a second, to show the their respect and support for him by proclaiming him the first Afro-Bolivian king.
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After the royal recognition came the sacrifice of hundreds of slaves who offered to work an extra half hour a day. Its goal? To ensure that their king was freed from any kind of work or task that could be detrimental to his status as ruler.
Juan Bonifaz Pinedo is the first of the kingdom’s monarchs officially registered by the Bolivian state.
Afro-Bolivian royal house
While unusual, the legacy didn’t stop there. The African monarch was succeeded by Boniface, the last Afro-Bolivian and Afro-American slave who took his place as king in 1932.
In the words of the current monarch for ‘El País’: “King Boniface was my grandfather. Our ancestors were brought to work in the mines of Potosí. They were then taken to the Los Yungas area, where they were sold to the owners of the haciendas ”.
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The Afro-Bolivian monarchy remained without a ruler for at least 38 years, after Boniface gave birth to two daughters who, according to cultural tradition, could not obtain the highest title of power within the community.
It was precisely Juan Bonifaz Pinedo who broke from monarchical absenteeism by claiming his right to serve as king in 1992year from which it represents the Afro-Bolivian community.
Who is Juan Bonifaz Pinedo?
Juan Bonifaz Pinedo bears the title of king of the Afro-Bolivian territory, but he is not like any king: far from resembling the European monarchs who overshadow the front pages of national and international media, he has done what few dare to do: build the future of the community by remembering and summarizing the past.
With a myriad of ancestral legacies behind them, Juan Bonifaz Pinedo has become one of the most loved and respected kings of all time. The material poverty that boasts its hidden kingdom is equivalent to the cultural wealth of a people who, for hundreds of years, have struggled to survive.
(You can read: India asks England to return the Koh-i-noor, the diamond of the royal crown).
Juan Bonifaz Pinedo is the grandson of Bonifacio, who reigned over the Afro-Bolivian community between 1932 and 1950.
Afro-Bolivian royal house
Can you imagine being able to ask a king for advice or just visit him to buy a staple food product? Well, Afro-Bolivian citizens have the privilege of doing so. Just approach the brick and concrete house where the monarch lives with his wife for ‘Don Julio’, as he is often called by the community, to receive them with words and gestures full of wisdom and solidarity.
Pinedo changed the formal acts, formal attire, extravagant dinners and quirky parties for a small grocery store he runs himself, according to ‘BBC’. From tangerines to oranges, from preserves to biscuit packages, at 79, everything seems to indicate that the king is still quite busy.
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The king owns a grocery store and grows coca in his spare time.
Afro-Bolivian royal house
“These are the leaves I collected from my small plot. Putting them out in the harsh midday sun, I have them ready in about three hours. Then I will put them in the bags for the trucks that will take them to the markets of La Paz, ”Pinedo explained to ‘BBC’, referring to one of his favorite ancestral activities: the collection of coca.
Although the sovereign has expressed in some media interviews that his “title is mainly symbolic”, Pinedo is the first of the kingdom’s monarchs officially registered by the Bolivian state.
A path of representation
Evo Morales – former Bolivian president belonging to the indigenous nation Aymara – was, in fact, the one who it opened the door to wider recognition of Bolivia’s ethnic minorities in 2007. There was so much hustle and bustle that even the only king of Latin America was invited to record a documentary with his community while he was encouraged “to travel to Uganda to see the land our ancestors come from” , according to an interview with the aforementioned British news portal.
After a tireless struggle for the representation of the Afro-Bolivian community, everything seems to indicate that their monarchy is increasingly far from over.
(It may interest you: the unknown story of when the people of Cartagena asked to be English).
Today, International Day in memory of the victims of slavery and the transatlantic slave trade, we are proud that the history and struggle of the Afro-Bolivian people for their rights are part of our Democratic and Cultural Revolution. pic.twitter.com/fuRqXSbslL
– Evo Morales Ayma (@evoespueblo) March 25, 2021
“I would like to continue to advance so that the Afro-Bolivian community is more recognized and visible, as my father has done so far.“said Prince Rolando, 27, in dialogue with the ‘BBC’ chain and, with this, planted a new seed of hope for the 26,000 Afro-Bolivians who expect greater representation in an increasingly dynamic and changing world. .
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