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

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

(1999–2003) and

Guyana Guyana ( or ), officially the Cooperative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern mainland of South America. Guyana is an indigenous word which means "Land of Many Waters". The capital city is Georgetown. Guyana is bordered by the ...

(2017–) and secretary general of the

Association of Caribbean States The Association of Caribbean States (ACS; es, Asociación de Estados del Caribe; french: Association des États de la Caraïbe) is an advisory association of nations centered on the Caribbean Basin. It was formed with the aim of promoting cons ...

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

Afro-Colombians Afro-Colombians or African-Colombians ( es, afrocolombianos, links=no) are Colombians of full or partial sub-Saharan African descent (Blacks, Mulattoes, Pardos, and Zambos). History Africans were enslaved in the early 16th Century in Colom ...

in 2010.

Academic career

Born in Cartagena in 1954, Múnera earned a law degree from the

University of Cartagena The University of Cartagena ( es, link=no, Universidad de Cartagena), also called UniCartagena, is a departmental public coeducational research university based primarily in the city of Cartagena, Bolívar, Colombia. The university offers educ ...

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, history ...

and

US history The history of the lands that became the United States began with the arrival of the first people in the Americas around 15,000 BC. Numerous indigenous cultures formed, and many saw transformations in the 16th century away from more densely ...

from the

University of Connecticut The University of Connecticut (UConn) is a public land-grant research university in Storrs, Connecticut, a village in the town of Mansfield. The primary 4,400-acre (17.8 km2) campus is in Storrs, approximately a half hour's drive from Hart ...

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 Pablo de Olavide University (''Universidad Pablo de Olavide (UPO)'' in Spanish) is a public university in Seville, Spain. UPO offers both undergraduate and graduate programs in the traditional majors, as well as in biotechnology, environmental s ...

(1999), the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

(2003–2004), and the

University of Seville The University of Seville (''Universidad de Sevilla'') is a university in Seville, Spain. Founded under the name of ''Colegio Santa María de Jesús'' in 1505, it has a present student body of over 69.200, and is one of the top-ranked universi ...

(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 race-based colonial caste system (the European descendants) Animals * Criollo duck, a species of duck native to Central and South Ameri ...

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