Thursday, June 21, 2012

In Patagonia

Argentina turns to Wales for help with Falkland Islands
Buenos Aires is thought to have been trying to capitalise on historical links between Wales and Argentina.
In Patagonia, in the south of the country, a dialect of the Welsh language is spoken among thousands of expat descendants of Welsh ancestors who first settled there in 1865.
The settlers built Welsh chapels and their descendants even organise a regular cultural festival. In 2004, the Welsh speakers in Argentina asked to access Welsh television programmes to encourage the growth of the language.
During the Falklands War between Britain and Argentina 30 years ago, there were Welsh language speakers in both sets of troops.
That last sentence is as sad and poignant a thing as I've read in a long time; Kirchner's and Cameron's UN grandstanding are equally distasteful if you want my opinion,

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