euskalkultura.eus

The renaming ceremony took place at the Euzko Etxea in La Plata and complies with the aim of the members of the Studies Center to pay tribute to the one who created the basis for the cooperative movement in Mondragon, Fr. Jose Maria Arizmendiarrieta.  Attending the event was special guest and representative of the Arizmendiarrietaren Lagunak Elkartea-ALE (Association of the Friends of Arizmendiarrieta), president and economist from Gipuzkoa, Miguel Angel Laspiur. 

La Plata, Argentina.   Besides attending the ceremony to rename the Studies Center, Miguel Angel Laspiur had a full agenda in the city of La Plata on July 7.

His activities began early in the morning with a visit to the Senate of the Province of Buenos Aires, where he was welcomed by Senator, Hernan Albisu and representatives of the deputies Ricardo Lissalde and Juan Amondarain.  In the afternoon he presented at the Federation of Worker Cooperatives of Argentina (FECOOTRA) conference.

One of the most emotional moments of his stay took place at the main event, the renaming of the Center “Jose Maria Arizemendiarrieta”.  The ceremony took place at the Euzko Etxea in La Plata and was attended by several personalities from the world of politics and the cooperative sector.  Among them were Deputy Ricardo Lissalde; President of the National Institute of Cooperatives and Social Economy (INAES)  Dr. Marcelo Collomb; President of the City of La Plata’s Advisory, Fernando Ponce.  The Delegate of Euskadi in Argentina-Mercosur, Sara Pagola Aizpiri, also expressed her good wishes through a note that was read at the event.

Javier Clua, president of the Euzko Etxea and Marclo Collomb, president of INAES welcomed everyone to the event and stressed the importance of the link between the Association of Friends of Arizmendiarrieta and CEVA, emphasizing that it is an excellent place for study of the cooperative movement in Euskadi and its projection in Argentina, in order to establish a program to be developed in the future.  For his part, Mr. Laspiur also gave a talk about the current status of the Mondragon Cooperative where he also talked about the aspects of the personality and values of Fr. Arizmendiarrieta.

At the end of his talk, and in recognition of the Bicentennial of the Declaration of Independence in Argentina, Professor Jose Saldias, member of CEVA presented the book Libres de España y de toda otra dominación extranjera: los libertadores vasco argentinos.  The event concluded with a performance by musicians Diego Sandullo, on the guitar and Marcelo Hann, vocals who sang, among other songs ‘Juana Azurduy’.

The Study Center informed that FECOOTRA along with CEVA are currently working on, among other projects, a plan to disseminate cooperative values, the associative and solidarity in technical schools in the city of La Plata, “which is the best tribute we can pay to Fr. Arizmendiarrieta,” as expressed by Center sources.