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Santiago, Chile/Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Director for the Basque Community Abroad, Asier Vallejo Itsaso, began his visit to South America on Wednesday in Chile visiting the 100-year old Euzko Etxea in Santiago.  On Thursday he traveled to Viña del Mar – Valparaiso, to visit the local Euskal Etxea, to later return to Santiago to have a meeting with the board of directors of the Basque Community in Chile.  During his stay in this Andean country, Vallejo was accompanied by Rafael Kutz, Delegate of Euskadi for Chile and Peru.

Following a tight schedule, Vallejo will arrive in Argentina today where he will be welcomed by Sara Pagola, Delegate of Euskadi for Argentina-Mercosur, who will accompany him during his stay in this area.  This afternoon, Vallejo will meet with the board of directors of the Juan de Garay Basque-Argentinean Foundation.  Tomorrow, Saturday, he will visit the Laurak Bat Basque Center and will then participate in FEVA’s (Federation of Basque Entities in Argentina) General Assembly where he will speak.  On Sunday the 21st, he will visit and meet with Basques in Rosario and San Nicolas, and on Monday, with the Basque community in La Plata.

Uruguay and Brazil

On Tuesday, April 23rd, Vallejo will visit Montevideo and will meet with the mayor of the city, Ana Oliveira, as well as the technical staff of the municipality.  In the afternoon, he will visit the Euskal Erria Basque club in Montevideo, where he will also meet with members of the Basque community of the city of Flores.  On the next day, he will meet with FIVU – the Federation of Basque Institutions in Uruguay.

The final leg of his trip to South America will be in Brazil from April 25-27.  On Thursday the 25th he will attend a lunch in Sao Paulo with local Basque clubs, that will also be attended by the Rio Grande do Sul Basque club, in the Brazilian state that borders Uruguay and Argentina that has a long tradition of Basque immigration.

On Friday he will meet with the SPRI (Basque public agency for business development) in the economic capital of Brazil, and early on Saturday he will be in Sao Paulo to visit the Eusko Alkartasuna and Eusko Brasildar Etxea Basque clubs and will return to Euskadi in the afternoon.