What the heck is wrong with Ari Melber...?

[old as dirt]

66. The stuff about refugees goes way back.

Most palenques were destroyed, because they set a bad example, but when the colonialists were unable to destroy a palenque (they were very difficult and dangerous to destroy, according to historians), they entered into treaties that sought to control their immigration/refugee policies.

I've bolded the references to refugees. (The Wikipedia article has a big blooper later on, where it asserts that there are no other surviving palenques. My wife's palenque survives to this day as well.)

If you ever visit Cartagena, be sure to allot a couple of days to swing by Palenque de San Basilio. It's very close, and no visit to Cartagena is complete without it.

San Basilio de Palenque

Wikipedia

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/San_Basilio_de_Palenque

San Basilio de Palenque or Palenque de San Basilio, often referred to by the locals simply as Palenke, is a Palenque village and corregimiento in the Municipality of Mahates, Bolivar in northern Colombia. Palenque was the first free African town in the Americas, and in 2005 was declared a Masterpiece of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity by UNESCO.[1]

History

Spaniards introduced enslaved Africans in South America through the Magdalena River Valley. Its mouth is close to the important port of Cartagena de Indias where ships full of Africans arrived. Some Africans escaped and set up Palenque de San Basilio, a town close to Cartagena. This community began in 1619, when Domingo Biohó led a group of about 30 runaways into the forests, and defeated attempts to subdue them. Biohó declared himself King Benkos, and his palenque of San Basilio attracted large numbers of runaways to join his community. His Maroons defeated the first expedition sent against them, killing their leader Juan Gómez. The Spanish arrived at terms with Biohó, but later they captured him, accused him of plotting against the Spanish, and had him hanged.[2]

They tried to free all enslaved Africans arriving at Cartagena and were quite successful. Therefore, the Spanish Crown issued a Royal Decree (1691), guaranteeing freedom to the Palenque de San Basilio Africans if they stopped welcoming new escapees. But runaways continued to escape to freedom in San Basilio. In 1696, the colonial authorities subdued another rebellion there, and between 1713-7. Eventually, the Spanish agreed to peace terms with the palenque of San Basilio, and in 1772, this community of maroons was included within the Mahates district, as long they no longer accepted any further runaways

African roots in Latin America: Palenque (Colombia) | Armin Schwegler | TEDxUCIrvine

LA TIERRA PROMETIDA, CARLOS VIVES, CARTAGENA DE INDIAS, COLOMBIA, TURISMO