OFFICIAL ACTIVITIES ABROAD The Lehendakari inaugurates Basque Government Office in Argentina On November 21st Lehendakari Ibarretxe officially inaugurated the Basque Government Office in Argentina, located in the Buenos Aires neighborhood of Puerto Madero. This is the fifth official Basque Government Office to open outside of Euskadi. The first was the Brussels office, which recently celebrated its twentieth anniversary, followed by Madrid, Mexico City and Santiago de Chile. More offices are slated to open in American and European cities in the upcoming years. In addition to the Lehendakari, speakers included Basque delegate in Argentina, Marieli Díaz de Mendibil and Secretary General for Foreign Action, Iñaki Aguirre. Also attending the event Ibarretxe cuts the ribbon at the official inauguration of the Basque Government Office in Buenos Aires. were SGAE directors (General Secretariat for Foreign Action) Mikel Burzako and Josu Legarreta and adviser Joseba Agirretxea; Basque Minister of Education, Universities and Research, José Antonio Campos and Basque Minister of Justice, Employment and Social Security, Joseba Azkarraga, plus deputy ministers and directors of various Basque Government departments, representatives of the majority of Basque Centers in Argentina and Uruguay and their respective federations, FEVA (Federation of Argentinian-Basque Entities) and FIVU (Federation of Uruguayan-Basque Entities), and senior management of Basque companies based in Argentina. The Lehendakari alongside Basque Government authorities at the Basque Government Office in Buenos Aires. FEVA asks that criminal charges be dropped against Ibarretxe The Federation of Argentinian-Basque Entities (FEVA), the umbrella group representing nearly 100 Basque centers throughout Argentina with some 20,000 members, has made a declaration in favor of Lehendakari Juan José Ibarretxe. The Lehendakari is the subject of a criminal investigation initiated by the Basque Court of Justice for having called a public meeting with Batasuna in the framework of the peace process underway in Euskadi. The declaration is signed by Mariluz Artetxe and Felipe Eiheragibel, president and secretary of the Federation. For more information: http://www.fevaonline.org.ar/index1.htm 24 KANPO HARREMANAK Issue 75. Year 2006.