How Harry and Meghan's tour of Colombia will take in historic town of freed African - but fears rise that the Sussexes' 'are being manipulated' by the country's government By Ian Gallagher In Bogota Published: 23:00, 14 August 2024 | Updated: 01:38, 15 August 2024 e-mail 137 View comments They might be in Latin America, but one of the highlights of Harry and Meghan’s latest quasi-royal tour will be a visit to a place called a ‘little corner of Africa’. Founded by former slaves four centuries ago in the jungles of Colombia, the walled community of Palenque de San Basilio near the historic city of Cartagena became the first free town in the Americas. To the Sussexes, ever keen to investigate colonialism and its legacies, the oldest African-American settlement in the New World holds an irresistible draw.
Most of today’s 3,500 inhabitants are direct descendants of slaves and have preserved many of their African customs, including their own language, Palenquero, strongly influenced by the Kikongo language of Congo and Angola. The Duke and Duchess will visit San Basilio on Saturday after beginning their four-day tour of Colombia with engagements in the capital, Bogota. It follows their tour of Nigeria in May in which Meghan repeatedly emphasised her African heritage.
Prince Harry and Meghan attend the Giant of Africa Foundation at the Dream Big Basketball clinic in Lagos, Nigeria A monument in San Basilio de Palenque, Colombia, in memory of Benkos Bioho, the founder of Pale.