Bonifacio Pinedo, also known as the Marqués de Pinedo of Bolivia

Bolivia

Bolivia officially known as Plurinational State of Bolivia , is a landlocked country in central South America. It is the poorest country in South America...

, was king of Bolivia and the last Afro Bolivian

Afro Bolivian

Afro Bolivians are Bolivians of African ancestry, and to historical or cultural elements in Bolivia thought to emanate from this community. The term can refer to the combining of African and other cultural elements found in Bolivian society such as religion, music, language, the arts, and class...

 king. Born in the tropical regions of Yungas

Yungas

The Yungas is a stretch of forest along the eastern slope of the Andes Mountains from southeastern Peru through central Bolivia. It is a transitional zone between the Andean highlands and the eastern forests. Like the surrounding areas, it has characteristics of the Neotropic ecozone...

 in Bolivia, his monarchy is one of the few traditional African monarchies that has survived to the present day. He was the grandfather of the current king Julio Pinedo

Julio Pinedo

Julio Pinedo is the ceremonial king of the Afro Bolivian people of the Nor Yungas province, crowned in 1992, thirty years after the death of the previous king, his ancestor Bonifacio Pinedo. His position gained official recognition in 2007 when he was sworn in by the prefect of La Paz.-References:...

.

According to the story as told by Bonifacio Pinedo, he was the oldest member of the Afro-Bolivian community, a direct descendant of a noble African tribe native to the Congo, before France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 and Belgium

Belgium

Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...

colonized the region. In the colonial era, the dynasty was brought to the New World by the Spanish conquerors as slaves.