Chinatowns in Latin America This article discusses Chinatowns in Latin America. In the 19th century, many Chinese migrated to several Latin American countries as contract laborers (i.e., indentured servants) in the agricultural and fishing industries. Most Chinese came from Guangdong Province. The rest came from Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Japan, and Korea. They often times did not return to China. Hence, Latin American Chinatowns may include the descendants of original migrants—often of mixed Chinese and Hispanic parentage—and some recent immigrants. Most ethnic Chinese in Latin America are of Cantonese and Hakka origin. The Japanese and Koreans are mistakenly called chinos (the Spanish word for "Chinese men"), and the Barrios Chinos have been multi-Asian places. However, unlike the Chinatowns of North America and Europe, the numbers of pure-blood Chinese is relatively few due to generally lower levels of Chinese immigration to some parts of Latin America. Residents of Latin American Chinatowns tend to speak a mishmash of Chinese and Spanish. Some Latin American Chinatowns (Spanish plural: Barrios Chinos) include those in Mexico City, Havana, and Buenos Aires. Some of these Chinatowns mainly serve as tourist attractions, rather than servicing any extant local Chinese-speaking population. However, some Latin American countries have experienced more Asian immigration than others. Many Thais and Vietnamese also settled Latin America after World War II and Vietnam War, and many Vietnamese refugees—especially of Chinese descent, who settled Hong Kong after Vietnam War—also settled Latin America to escape the fear of return to mainland Chinese control. Argentina The Belgrano district of Buenos Aires, Argentina, contains the largest and most active Barrio Chino in Latin America. Its location is on Calle Arribeños, Calle Mendoza and Calle Montañeses. Large numbers of recent Taiwanese and Mainland Chinese immigrants have settled in the area. Also included are ethnic Chinese from other parts of Latin America. (Barrio Chino is somewhat a misnomer as other non-Chinese Asian immigrants such as ethnic Koreans and Vietnamese have also settled in the area, but the term is appropriate to other Asian citizens of Chinese descent.) Brazil São Paulo, Brazil has no permanent Chinatown, but the district where the Chinese community lives is called Liberdade. Besides being a district famous for its strong Japanese presence, a significant number of Taiwanese immigrants lived in Liberdade, and many mainland Chinese immigrants went to Liberdade after the start of Communist rule. Many Cantonese from Hong Kong and Portuguese-speaking Macau — including some Macanese of mixed Chinese and Portuguese descent — also settled the place after its return to mainland Chinese rule in 1997 and 1999. These people from Macau can usually speak and understand Portuguese, so that didn't become an obstacle on adjusting to the Brazilian environment. A huge number of Chinese Indonesians settled the area as refugees when they were violently forced by Indonesians of Malay descent out in 1960s. Today, Chinese Brazilians usually speak a mixture of Chinese and Portuguese. Japanese and Koreans — including of Chinese descent — also settled permanently in Liberdade, making it a multi-Asian community. Cuba Unlike Argentina, the Chinese-speaking population of Cuba was once large, but the now-diminished Chinese Cuban population is now clustered around the largely dying Barrio Chino — called Barrio Chino de La Habana — on Calle Zanja, of Havana. After the successful revolution of Fidel Castro in 1959, many Chinese Cuban entrepreneurs fled the country and entered the United States. Nowadays, Cuba has only one Chinese-language newspaper, named Kwong Wah Po. Previously, Havana's Chinatown was among the largest in Latin America. Dominican Republic A new bustling Chinatown of the Dominican Republic is in the capital city of Santo Domingo on Avenida Duarte. While serving the local ethnic community, it is also promoted as a tourist attraction. The first Chinese, including other Spanish-speaking Chinese, came from other Caribbean islands. Other Chinese immigrants came from Hong Kong and Taiwan in 1970s. Chinese became the second largest non-Latino community in the 1980s. Mexico Chinatown, Mexico City Mexico City's small barrio chino is on Calle Dolores in Cuauhtémoc borough in the city center. The border town of Mexicali, adjacent to the United States, contains the largest concentration of Chinese Mexicans in Mexico and its Chinatown, on Avenida Madero Calle Azueta is called La Chinesca. Mexicali itself was founded in 1903 by early Chinese settlers who came to the United States and then eventually came south to Mexico to escape institutionalized anti-Chinese persecution in California. The first Chinese immigrants to Mexico were Filipino-born who were brought by Manila-Acapulco galleon trade. The largest number of new Cantonese-speaking Chinese immigrants mostly from the Guangzhou area of Mainland China to Mexicali came in 1919. At one time, the Chinese Mexican population outnumbered the Latino population. Mexicali had a local chapter of the Kuomintang. There is now a consulate of the People's Republic of China in Mexicali. The economic problems in the 1980s led to immigration of the Chinese Mexicans north to the United States. Netherlands Antilles The Chinatown of Netherlands Antilles is located in the capital, Willemstad. Its Chinese came from neighboring Latin American countries, Venezuela and Panama. Many of the ethnic Chinese also went to The Netherlands. Like Chinese of other Latin American countries, they also speak Spanish as their additional language. Panama The Panamanian Chinatown, located in Panama City, is called Barrio Chino de Ciudad Panamá. Many Taiwanese and Cantonese immigrants from Hong Kong and Guangdong Province have settled in this barrio chino. An emerging Chinatown is in El Dorado on Avenida B and Calle Carlos A. Mendoza. Paraguay Paraguay's Barrios Chinos are located in Asuncion and Ciudad del Este. Many Chinese immigrants from Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea settled Barrios Chinos. Ethnic Chinese from neighboring Latin-American countries also resided. South Koreans also settled these places. Peru The main Peruvian Chinatown is located in Lima and is called the Barrio Chino de Lima, located on Calle Capón; it is one of the two earliest Chinatowns in the Western Hemisphere, along with Havana. In contrast to Cuba, although Peru has also experienced problems — including the dictatorial rule of Juan Velasco Alvarado (1968-1975), which forced many of his Chinese Peruvian opponents to flee (mainly to United States) — large numbers of Chinese Peruvians still remain. Historical Chinese immigration to the Amazonian region of Peru is intriguingly documented in a small village named Chino several miles outside of Iquitos which according to local memory was settled by Chinese. Though its inhabitants are clearly native Amazonians, many of them have markedly smoother facial structure, stereotypically Asian eyes, and straighter hair. This may mark the existence of a community of Chinese immigrants in the 19th or 20th century who intermarried and vanished, as mysteriously as they came, into the local majority. Puerto Rico Puerto Rico boasts San Juan's Barrio Chino, called Barrio Chino de San Juan. Since Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens, Chinese-Puerto Ricans are also called Chinese Americans. Because of poverty, several Chinese Puerto Ricans went to mainland United States. Venezuela Venezuela is also home to one of Latin America's largest concentrations of ethnic Chinese. The lively Barrio chino is on Avenida Principal El Bosque in the El Bosque district of Caracas. Cantonese Chinese is widely spoken among Chinese Venezuelans, but there has been recent Taiwanese immigration. Chinese from other places in the world also settled Venezuela, especially from The Philippines, where they were persecuted in 1972, and Cuba, where Fidel Castro claimed their businesses. FAVORITE ARTICLES: History of the World    History of the United States    History of Europe    Ancient History    History    Military History    World War I    Bombing of Dresden    California    US Constitution    Frank Sinatra    Boston    Marbury v. Madison This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License at http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html You may copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license. 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