Relentless Pursuit, that's what this series should be called.
The previous reflection offered a clue: genetics. This will be briefly discussed in this reflection, but this time the investigation will not focus on historical sciences, particularly paleogenomics, which seeks to uncover what the past reveals through the remains of our ancestors. Instead, the inquiry centers on the present, on the inhabitants of "Here in America." The analysis considers two sources: ethno-racial self-identification data from censuses and national household surveys in 20 countries of the region, and genetic studies—genomics—conducted on the same populations. This will allow us to determine whether we are a cosmic race, the product of widespread miscegenation after the colonial period, or offer some guidance toward answering the question: What are we?
Two studies, two sources
Household censuses and surveys
Through mandates, recommendations and methodological guides developed by multilateral organizations, ethnic and racial variables are included in national censuses and surveys to correct the so-called statistical invisibility of Indigenous people, Afro-descendants and other minorities.
In this regard, initiatives have been taken: the UN, especially its Statistics Division, through its publications of the 2000, 2010, and 2020 Census Rounds; the UN Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC Round 2020) with the holding of seminars to structure and standardize the methodological guide; the World Bank (WB) (2015-2018) with the requirement, to qualify for development financing, of diagnoses supported by census data broken down by race and ethnicity and the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) with the preparation of guides with Recommendations on Diversity Data in the Social Sector (2024-2025).
DNA doesn't lie
It sounds like neopositivism, but genomics in its applications allows, through the study of a person's DNA, to determine what ethnic-racial percentage they have, that is, how much European, indigenous and Afro-descendant they have, beyond how they self-identify.
To accurately determine the "genetic load or proportion" - Ancestry Study - of various ethnicities in a population, scientists combine the study of mitochondrial DNA (maternal line), with the Y Chromosome (paternal line) and autosomal markers (SNPs) - with which the mixture and the overall map of inheritance are determined.
How do the people of this part of America self-identify, ethnically and racially?
The consolidated and harmonized statistical data from 18 of the 20 countries in the region, from the compilation work carried out by ECLAC, the World Bank and the Congressional Research Service of the USAThe following results were obtained from the CRS (Common Reporting System):
1.-Between 8,3% and 9,8% (42,97 million and 58,18 million) of the population of the "America from here" region self-identify as Indigenous.
2.-Approximately 21% (134 million) of the population of the "America from here" region self-identify as Afro-descendant.
3. Haiti and Brazil are at the top of the Afro-descendant ranking, with 95% and 55,5% respectively. Uruguay and Venezuela are noteworthy, with percentages of 4,8% and 3,5% respectively.
4. Guatemala and Bolivia (Plurinational State of) lead the ranking of Indigenous self-identification with 43,4% and 38,6%, respectively. Mexico is between 18% and 19%. Colombia and Venezuela are at 4,8% and 2,7%, respectively. It is surprising that Chile and Argentina, sharing a border with Bolivia (Plurinational State of), have 11,40% and 0,8%, respectively.
5. Another point to consider is the number of indigenous languages in the region: in 2009, UNICEF reported 551; in 2015, the World Bank reported 558; and in 2025, the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL)—an Evangelical Christian NGO—reported this figure at 821. According to this SIL publication, Mexico has 286 languages, Brazil 202, Peru 91, Colombia 83, Bolivia (Plurinational State of) 39, and Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) 37, the top six countries in the ranking.
Does the invisibility of Indigenous and Afro-descendant people go beyond statistics?
There is also great diversity in the current Indigenous population, judging by the diversity of languages.
What does genomics say?
The genomic data presented here are the result of genetic burden studies (ancestry) conducted in countries of the region for the development of precision medicine, personalized medicine, or biomedicine, which aims to determine the prevalence of certain diseases based on genotype. These values are illustrative and not statistically representative.
From the population sample of the region subjected to these studies, the following results were obtained:
1. The proportion of Indigenous ancestry ranges from 6,7% to 71,1%. These extreme values correspond to Cuba and Bolivia, respectively. In 14 of the 20 countries in the sample, this proportion is more than a quarter – greater than or equal to 25%.
2. The proportion of Afro-descendant ancestry ranges from 0,7% to 42%. These extreme values correspond to Bolivia and the Dominican Republic, respectively. In 10 of the 20 countries, this proportion is greater than 10%.
3. The proportion of European ancestry in the sample ranges from 24,6% to 84%. These extreme values correspond to Bolivia and Uruguay, respectively. In 13 of the 20 countries, this proportion is equal to or greater than 50%.
A risky inference: In the ancestry studies carried out in the region, there is no Mestizo, Mulatto, Zambo, Indigenous, African or pure European; what exists is an ethno-racial mosaic, with gradations.
To complicate matters further, variants have been found in a gene that influences lighter skin pigmentation, present only in people from East Asia and Indigenous America, meaning that having lighter skin is not necessarily a sign of European purity.25-1-2019, Lizzie Wade)
So everything seems to indicate that there is no single dominant race in "Here in America." Only variations of combinations, where these three sources are present: European, Native American, and African American.
In Venezuela, there is a popular expression from the play *Un salto atrás* (1922), by the Venezuelan humorist and journalist Leoncio Martínez: “Here, we all have a drum and an arrow in our ancestral past.” See "A step back" to read and laugh.
The differences in self-identification are being adjusted with censuses and surveys; the official identity, very divergent in some cases, will be adapted and reflected in inclusive public policies.
What and who are we?
It is still unanswered and will possibly remain open pending the results of science; everything seems to indicate that it is unlikely that we are original, that we are a new race of Mestizos -The Cosmic Race-, understood as the mixture of Indigenous people with Europeans, rather we are a mosaic, a rich ethno-racial diversity.
Given this, why not delve deeper into trying to answer the question: what are we like in "Here's America"? Changing the focus, moving from identity to idiosyncrasy, that will be the objective of the next installment.
