Edited sentence: ... From Colombia to Brazil to the Dominican Republic to Ecuador, persons of African descent continue to experience racial discrimination and remain among the poorest and most marginalized groups in the entire region.Access to health services is another serious concern, and recent studies have shown that Afro-Latino communities are at greater risk of contracting HIV/AIDS.In many areas, Afro-Latinos are also subject to aggression by local police forces at far greater rates than those perceived to be white.In places where civil conflict has taken hold, Afro-Latinos are much more likely to become victims of violence or refugees in their own countries.Senator Barack Obama recently addressed the plight of Afro-Latinos in general in a May 25, 2005 statement:.While recent positive steps have been taken in some areas—for example, giving land titles to Afro-Colombians and passing explicit anti-discrimination legislation in Brazil—much work still needs to be done to ensure that this is the beginning of an ongoing process of reform, not the end