Alfonso David Múnera Cavadía (1954–) is a Colombian historian who served as ambassador to

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

(1999–2003) and

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

(2017–) and secretary general of the

Association of Caribbean States The Association of Caribbean States (ACS; ; ) is an advisory association of nations centered on the Caribbean Basin. It was formed with the aim of promoting consultation, cooperation, and concerted action among all the countries of the Caribbe ...

(2012–2016). He was recognized as one of 12 outstanding

Afro-Colombians Afro-Colombians (), also known as Black Colombians (), are Colombians of total or predominantly Sub-Saharan African ancestry. Colombia has one of the largest  Afro-descendant populations in South America, with government estimates being ...

in 2010.

Academic career

Born in Cartagena in 1954, Múnera earned a law degree from the University of Cartagena in 1981 and an MA and PhD in

Latin American studies Latin American studies (LAS) is an academic and research field associated with the study of Latin America. The interdisciplinary study is a subfield of area studies, and can be composed of numerous disciplines such as economics, sociology, histor ...

and US history from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university system with its main campus in Storrs, Connecticut, United States. It was founded in 1881 as the Storrs Agricultural School, named after two benefactors. In 1893, ...

in 1995. His dissertation was entitled "Failing to Construct the Colombian Nation: Race and Class in the Andean-Caribbean Conflict, 1717–1816." In 1981, he began teaching at the University of Cartagena, where he served as vice rector of research (2007–2010) and founded the International Institute for Caribbean Studies in 2005. Múnera has been a visiting professor in Spain and the United States at institutions such as Pablo de Olavide University (1999), the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...

(2003–2004), and the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, in 2022 it has a student body of 57,214,U-Ranking Universidades español ...

(2006).

Diplomatic career

In addition to his academic posts, Múnera served as president of the Caribbean Coast of Colombia Committee of Sciences and Technology (1996–1999). He served as Colombian ambassador to Jamaica (1999–2003) and as Special Advisor to the Caribbean (2009–2010). In February 2012, he was unanimously elected by the member states to become secretary general of the Association of Caribbean States, succeeding Luis Fernando Andrade Falla. He served from April 2012 through April 2016. In November 2017, he became Colombian ambassador to Guyana.

Research interests

Múnera's research focuses on the African-descended community of Colombia and the systematic social exclusion of that community by the European

criollo Criollo or criolla (Spanish for creole) may refer to: People * Criollo people, a social class in the Spanish colonial system. Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South America. * Criollo cattle, a group of cattle bre ...

elite during nineteenth-century nation building. He has also examined the role of the Caribbean region in Colombia’s development. His scholarship has had a significant impact on Colombian historiography and paved the way for broader academic and popular recognition of the roles that Afro-Colombians played in fighting the region's wars of independence and forging national and regional consciousnesses.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Múnera Cavadía, Alfonso Living people 1954 births 20th-century Colombian historians Colombian diplomats Colombian people of African descent University of Connecticut alumni 21st-century Colombian historians University of Cartagena alumni