Filling the gap: the Colombo arabes emergence as political actors in Barranquilla and the Caribbean region

Abstract

This article aims to present through an exploratory research a first preliminary political history of the participation of the Colombian Arabs in local, regional and national politics, with a special focus on the city of Barranquilla and the Colombian Caribbean region. It mainly focuses on the period of time that goes from the 1950s until the end of the 1980s, which is considered as the missing link in order to understand the full involvement of the third generation of the descendants of Arab origins in the political life of the city and the region. These ages were analyzed through the local press, along with the data of the Registraduria Nacional on the local and national elections between 1958 and 1986. The second generation of Arab migrants did not involve massively in politics in these ages, but some figures among them took advantages of the economic crisis and political vacuum in the city in order to achieve important positions of power as local or national representatives