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The festivities took place at the Euskaro Basque Club in Montevideo and constituted an excellent moment to evaluate the activities done by the Federation over the last two decades.  Accompanied by the Director of the Basque Community Abroad, Gorka Alavarez Aranburu, and the Delegate of Euskadi for Argentina and Mercosur, Sara Pagola and representatives of other FIVU clubs, the Federation renewed its commitment to Basque culture and Euskera. 

Montevideo, Uruguay.  The anniversary itself is on September 16th, but the board of directors of FIVU chose to celebrate on November 18th for various reasons, including that in November they could count on the attendance of the Director of the Basque Community Abroad, Gorka Alvarez Aranburu, who travelled to South America to participate in Semana Vasca Argentina in San Nicolas.  Remember that during his stay, Alvarez had the opportunity to meet with Basque communities in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile.

The anniversary luncheon took place at the Euskaro Basque Club in Montevideo, and the event began with dantzaris Julio Lopez and Karina Fernandez Artasanchez, from the Eusko Indarra dance group, performing Aurresku for those present.  This was followed by FIVU president, Enrique Poittevin Gilmet, giving a summary of the federation’s achievements over the last two decades, and promised to step up the ante in terms of the commitment to disseminate Basque culture and language. “"This institution born of the need to focus on common cultural expressions of Basque clubs that, in the nineties of the last century, arose in different parts of the Uruguayan territory, to support and rely on efforts to learn, retain and spread what brought our elders to this noble land that welcomed them. The idea of forming a social group to which all expressions belong, with the aim of generating or promoting activities that each club proposes has been our base, reason and goal, from the very beginning," he stressed.

“The generation of common spaces for study and dissemination of Basque, its history, folklore, religion, mythology and beliefs is as important as maintaining and cultivating contacts with the institutions of Euskal Herria today. As always, what is fundamental is being open to the Uruguayan community as a community that arrived in its first moments and helped to shape this blessed country.  Convinced that the road that we took so long ago is worth it, is what we celebrate today, reaffirming our commitment to double our efforts to continue to fulfill our statutes,” the president stressed.

Besides Gorka Alvarez Aranburu, also participating in the festivities was Delegate of Euskadi in Argentina and Mercosur, Sara Pagola. Among the guests were members and friends from other FIVU clubs, and also a representative from Gure Esku Dago, Angel Oiarbide.

FIVU Today

FIVU was created in order to gather Basque clubs in the country although, still today, not all clubs are part of the federation.  In a conversation with EuskalKultura.com, Enrique Poittevin explained that it is not easy, and that analysis of the situation deserves time, and a space for dialogue.  According to him, “the clubs that are not part of FIVU didn’t leave, but they were never part of it.  In the beginning, criteria were put in place for participation that they wouldn’t accept.  So FIVU’s situation is the same as always, with much desire to do a lot of things, facing today’s difficulties.  Nevertheless we are happy to celebrate this 20 years of our Basque-Uruguayan commitment."

“There are Basque clubs that are not very active and even with the support that we provide, it’s hard for them to get going.  We try to help the smallest clubs and support all the Basques who want to learn more about their elders culture, fi they have a club or not.  For example, the people in Florida and Minas, to mention some of the places, invited us to participate in cultural events.  There are other clubs that are working but whose activities we don’t participate in.  For the anniversary, we invited all of the clubs in the country but the only ones attending are those who are part of the Federation,” Poittevin said.

The president of FIVU indicated that following clubs are part of FIVU: Ibai Ondoko Etxea, in Carmelo; Gure Etxea, in Rosario; Centro Vasco in Durazno (not very active); San Joseko Euskaldunak Taldea, in San José; Euskaro, in Montevideo; and Haize Hegoa, also in Montevideo.

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