What happened to Argentina's Afro-descendent population?

Argentina, the Latin American country, has been a key attraction due to its achievements in the World Cup 2026. As reigning champions, Argentina has continued its legacy and is currently unbeaten. However, severe criticism has been directed at its citizens due to their discriminatory acts against black people.

While other Latin American countries have a significant number of African descendants, what happened to Afro-Argentines? This is a pivotal question that makes us dive deep into the country's history.

Argentina had a notable African population during its colonial period, around the 1750s. However, their existence and history were systematically erased through forceful assimilation, wars, and diseases.

Although Argentines call themselves white, research shows that as much as nine per cent of their ancestry traces back to Africa, according to some estimates.

During the Argentine War of Independence and the War of the Triple Alliance, a large number of Afro-Argentines (mainly slaves) were deployed at the front lines. This significantly reduced the Black population of the country.

Additionally, epidemics like yellow fever and cholera contributed significantly to decimating large numbers of Afro-Argentines, notably during the 1871 outbreak in Buenos Aires.

Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, a 19th-century Argentine president, called for migration from Europe, especially from Spain and Italy. About six million people migrated from Europe to Argentina permanently.

This encouraged intermarriage among races, which led Argentines to believe they were becoming an exclusively white European nation.

It should also be noted that political rhetoric at the time denied the existence of Black Argentines. Thus, a cultural myth of Argentina as an exclusively white European nation in South America began.

Eurocentric supremacy has engulfed Argentine society to this day. Words like "Negro" (Black) are frequently used to derogate working-class individuals of mixed European and Indigenous descent (mestizo), a group sometimes also referred to as 'criollo.'