**Peru has apologised for the first time to its citizens of African origin for centuries of “abuse, exclusion and discrimination”.**The government said racially-motivated harassment still hindered the social and professional development of many African-Peruvians.
A public ceremony will be held to apologise to African-Peruvians, who make up 5-10% of the population.
Their ancestors were brought as slaves to the region by Spanish colonisers.
Women’s and Social Development Minister Nidia Vilchez said the government wanted the apology to promote the “true integration of all Peru’s multicultural population,” Associated Press news agency reported.
The time of the ceremony was not mentioned in the declaration published in the official newspaper El Peruano.