Omar Sierra

Omar Sierra Cháves is a sociologist and doctoral candidate in Latin American History (University of Bielefeld/University of the Basque Country), with MA degrees in Interamerican Studies (Uni-Bielefeld) and International Conflict Resolution (UMASS Boston). He has extensive knowledge in international, intercultural and inter-ethnic conflicts, as well as in post-conflict negotiation and reconciliation. His professional experience includes roles at the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and editorial work on the six-volume Handbook "The Anthropocene as Multiple Crisis: Perspectives from Latin America" at the Maria Sibylla Merian Center for Advanced Latin American Studies (CALAS) in Bielefeld.

Universität Bielefeld

Omar.sierra@uni-bielefeld.de

Project

“Gran Cacao and Coloniality in the Caribbean: Land-grabbing and Power of the Tovars in Post-Independence 19th Century Venezuela"

This research examines how the Tovar family—archetype of the mantuano oligarchy—reproduced power in post-independence 19th-century Venezuela through land-grabbing, productive diversification, strategic marital alliances, and their insertion into the international financial architecture that dominated foreign trade. The study articulates these dimensions with an analysis of internal conflict within their domains to trace the divergent trajectories of some of their former haciendas.

Publications

Kaltmeier, Olaf, Ann-Kathrin Volmer, Luisa Raquel Ellermeier, Omar Sierra, and Eric Rummelhoff, eds. 2026. Contesting the Anthropocene: Latin American Perspectives beyond Coloniality and Capitalism. London/New York: Routledge.