Abstract For all its well-publicised problems, Colombia, like several other countries in Latin America, is often presented as a ‘racial democracy’, a nation in which the very issue of race is largely irrelevant given the predominantly mixed nature of its population. The interesting question of whether Colombia can really be considered a democracy escapes the scope of this article, but the claims of those who would argue that the ‘problem of race’ has largely been resolved here would appear to be supported by recent legislation, most specifically the 1991 Constitution, that not only codifies the principle of multicultural nationhood, but also goes some way towards recognising the interests of certain Afro-Colombian and indigenous ethnic groups. 1 The constitution specifically mentions the ‘{itcomunidades negras}’ of the Pacific coast, who have been granted land concessions by subsequent legislation. It also concedes limited autonomy to indigenous communities, but in such a vague way that making decisions about conflicting jurisdictions has been something of a legal headache ever since. As Jaime Arocha puts it, ‘[t]he new Colombian constitution attempts to build the nation neither by integration nor by segregation but by pursuing unity through the preservation of ethnic diversity’. 2 Jaime Arocha, ‘Inclusion of Afro-Colombians: Unreachable National Goal?’, {itLatin Amencan Perspectives}, 25:3,1998, p. 71.