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´óÏó´«Ã½ World Service
Last updated: 7 june, 2010 - 14:03 GMT

Race in Peru

The banning of a character in a popular television comedy has sparked a major race row in Peru.

In April the Afro-Peruvian civil rights movement, Lundu, successfully pressured a Lima-based TV station to suspend a caricature of a black man, which it considered racist.

The character called "el Negro Mama", represents a man with exaggerated African features who behaves like a dim-witted thief.

But to the horror of the anti-racism activists, the character recently returned to TV screens after thousands of people joined a counter-campaign to bring him back on-air.

Meanwhile, Lundu has received a torrent of online abuse and threats.

The row has raised uncomfortable questions about just how people of African descent are treated in Peru.

Reporter Dan Collyns found out more for Outlook.