The intense richness of cocoa from Izalco made this one of the first regions to have significant numbers of African enslaved people due to the high demand for free labor.

Thus arose several enclaves of African enslaved people in places such as the shores of Lake Coatepeque and in the town of La Trinidad in Sonsonate, on the banks of the river Cenzúnat.

It was a contingent of indigenous and Ladino soldiers from Zacatecoluca and Apastepeque who captured the slaves, who were found in the banks of the Lempa River, in El Marquesado and the hill of the same name, as well as downstream near the mouth.

Consequently, there was considerable demand for African labor in the indigo mills, which was provided by the slave ships arriving on the north coast, usually transported by the Portuguese, who had a supplier's license and a permit for introduction.

[6] In 1611, when the slave mulattoes helped defeat the Maroons of Tutale, Guatemala and El Salvador did not allow people of African descent to officially participate in militia companies.

Nevertheless, in the 1630s, a wave of attacks against Central America by enemy privateers and pirates persuaded the Audiencia to enlist free people of African descent in regular militia companies, although segregated.

When the rumor that officials were preparing a new census for the Laborío Tribute Collection spread throughout the mulatto neighborhoods, at least 200 people took to the streets, threatening to burn the residence of the mayor.

Spanish officials, who did not dare to continue the account, estimated that the actual number of residents in the city who were eligible for inclusion in the census was about 1,000.

[5] Although little is known about Afro-descendants of El Salvador (and Guatemala) working in the agricultural sector, several sources in the last third of the sixteenth century identified Afro-Salvadoran farming communities in the area surrounding the city of Sonsonate.

This process only lasted one to two months a year, making it unprofitable to maintain a permanent workforce where there were only enslaved workers to produce indigo.

In 1933, General Hernández Martinez, concerned about the events in Europe and following the example of Adolf Hitler, wrote a law called the Immigration Limitations, prohibiting the entry of Africans, Asians, Arabs, Romani people, and many others into the country.

There also exists the chanfaina dish; the canasto; the marimba instrument, some variants of witchcraft, and the black Christ statues scattered around the country.