The Regional Director for Communities, Maria da Graça Castanho, made a working visit to Uruguay, where she had the opportunity to become acquainted with the spaces where Azorean cultural references are visible.

During this visit, Maria da Graça Castanho met with governmental entities of the country as well as with the Cultural Association Los Azoreños, headquartered in San Carlos, a geographic area that was the final destination of forty Azorean families that left the current Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul in the 18th century, fleeing from Spanish rule.
 
The city of San Carlos will celebrate the 250 years of settlement in the Azores in 2013, an event which is being prepared by an official commission, whose inauguration ceremony was attended by Maria da Graça Castanho.

On the occasion, the Regional Director defended that the Azores have every reason to be proud of their community in Uruguay, despite the distance and linguistic difference. The Azoreans living in Uruguay, whether in San Carlos or in other areas of country, have kept Azorean culture alive, honouring the values of the Azorean people and contributing to the strengthening of ties between the Azores and the host country.

With regard to the celebration of the 250th anniversary, the Regional Director revealed that the Region cannot be left out of this dynamic nor forget the commitment and sacrifice that the communities have developed to preserve cultural heritage and promote international acknowledgment, which deserves the unconditional support of the Regional Government.

During this meeting, Maria da Graça Castanho was informed that the Cultural Association Los Azoreños wishes to become the House of the Azores of Uruguay, a claim that will brought to the next World Council of Houses of the Azores to be held in Rio de Janeiro from August 31 to September 3, 2011.

If this goal is accomplished, the House of the Azores of Uruguay will become the 13th House of the Azores in the world, thus increasing the number of spaces that are authentic in the Azores embassies abroad.