"Last year saw important celebrations of the bi-centenary of the Abolition of the Slave Trade in the English-speaking world," the sponsors of the England-based AfroLatino event CIMARRON! (which took place from February 11 to 23, 2008) stated on their website.

"Our event has been designed to address such a historical occasion from a Latin American perspective, by highlighting and celebrating the African cultural legacy in Latin America.

"Latin America is the synthesis of various peoples, races and cultures merged together into one, after a painful and inhumane process brought about by the colonization of the so-called New World with the transportation and enslavement of Africans as well as the Indigenous peoples. Latin American countries with their unique syncretistic culture have come to realize their true identity. Africa has undoubtedly played an important, vital, but often overlooked and forgotten role."