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Presentation
If the American continent has traditionally been a priority destination for Basque emigration, representing over 80% of Basque presence abroad, the case of Argentina is paradigmatic, as can be seen from the fact that it is the country with the highest number of Basque Centres or Euskal Etxeak: over 70 centres are currently officially recognised by the Basque Government in Argentina.
The affective and cultural links between Euskadi and Argentina have been strengthened by economic and sectorial relations. Likewise, in periods of depression, their relations have been closer in social areas or in those related to attention to Basque collectivities.
On the other hand, the growing tendency towards international exchange and globalisation, together with the creation of new macro-regional political structures such as MERCOSUR, an initiative between Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay, have strengthened the desire to construct with other peoples and cultures this new international order requiring new alliances and instruments on the basis of which to achieve the objectives implied
These and other future considerations led the Basque Government to open the Basque Delegation in Argentina based on Decree 24/2003, dated 11th February. Official recognition of constitution of the Delegation was finally obtained from the Government of the Argentine Republic in 2005, as was the building serving as the Basque Delegation headquarters in the city of Buenos Aires.
While experience in the functioning of some of these delegations has been relatively brief, it has also been intense. They have fostered new tendencies towards institutional collaboration between the Basque Country and America, outstanding among which is the bilateral cooperation developed in various sectors giving rise to the signing of different Memoranda of Understanding with state and regional governments.
A number of outgoing or incoming institutional missions have been organised, we participated in the Argentine National Basque Week, and contacts have been established between Government and Argentine ministers in areas such as justice, employment and social security, health or education.
Exchanges have also been established at different levels in areas as widely differing as the information society, home affairs, culture, housing and social affairs, or the environment and town and regional planning.
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