The word zambo is used to define a race native to the American continent, which arises from the mixture between a black African and an American Indian. They represent a mestizo ethnic group descended from those slaves brought from Africa by the colonizers. Many of the blacks who managed to escape from their oppressors, got support from the indigenous people of the region, since they understood and sympathized with them by giving them food and shelter.
Over time, these blacks married indigenous women and in the same way, indigenous men married African women. From there arises the race of the zambos. This miscegenation was very common in Venezuela, Colombia, Mexico, Brazil, the coasts of Central America and Panama. In each of these countries the zambos are known by another name, for example in Mexico they are called "wolf" and in Brazil "cafuzos".
The zambos were generally servants of the aristocratic families of the time. At present, this ethnic group represents an important group within countries located in the northwest of South America. Many of these zambos or descendants of them have come to have a certain degree of fame in the world, standing out in various contexts. For example, in the world of music is the singer and actress of Puerto Rican origin Jennifer López, the singer of Venezuelan origin Carlos Baute. In the political context are former Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez and former dictator of Panama Manuel Noriega.
It is important to point out that this race has been the object of discrimination or racism on many occasions, this matter being highly analyzed by experts on the subject, who know the complex situation that the American Indian population and Africans go through, in most of the countries where they are settled.
