He was the first Afro-Colombian to hold a cabinet-level ministry in Colombia serving as Secretary of the Treasury and Public Credit during the administration of President Aquileo Parra Gómez, as well as being the first Afro-Colombian Congressperson as Member of the Chamber of Representatives for Magdalena, and the first Afro-Colombian Governor of a Department, as the 16th President of the Sovereign State of Magdalena.

But the bones of my ancestors in the vaults of Cartagena still whiten, for giving freedom to many Whites of black consciences such as yours.I won't be silenced!

Yes, I belong the Black race, redeemed by the Republic, and my duty is to serve those who shattered its yoke.Born on 24 October 1849 in the hamlet of Camarones in the Municipality of Riohacha, then part of the Riohacha Province, in the Department of Magdalena, New Granada; his parents were Luis Antonio Robles and Manuela Súarez, both black freedpersons of moderate means.

[1] He died on 22 September 1899 of cystitis infection in his longtime residence le Maison Doré in Bogotá at the age of 49,[2][6] not having married and with no descendants still recovering from the death of his mother earlier that year.

[3] His childhood home in Camarones was designated a national monument, and his remains, which had been interred at the Central Cemetery of Bogotá,[2] were transported to be interred at his childhood home which operates as a Cultural House, Library and Training Center.