The Basque Government's Deputy Minister for Linguistic Policy, Lurdes Auzmendi, visits the USA and Mexico

The Basque Government's Deputy Minister for Linguistic Policy, Lurdes Auzmendi, is on a trip to the USA and Mexico to showcase the linguistic policy that is being implemented in the BAC. She will meet with representatives of the Basque centres in those countries and will have the opportunity to discover for herself the situation of the indigenous languages of Mexico

The Basque Government's Deputy Minister for Linguistic Policy, Lurdes Auzmendi, is on a trip to the USA and Mexico to showcase the linguistic policy that is being implemented in the BAC. She will meet with representatives and authorities of both countries and will report on the evolution of the Basque Country over recent years and the progress that has been made.

During the first part of the visit, the Deputy Minister will travel to the State of Nevada (USA), specifically to the city of Elco, to take part in the NABO (North American Basque Organization) annual meeting from 4 to 8 July. Representatives from the Basque centres from all over North America will attend the meeting. Lurdes Auzmendi will use the forum to report on the evolution of the Basque Language in recent years and to strengthen the ties between the Basques on both sides of the ocean.

At the end of the meeting, the Deputy Minister will leave for Mexico and will attend the National Institute of Indigenous languages on 9 July. Auzmendi will there gather detailed information on the indigenous languages of Mexico. Over 60 languages are spoken in Mexico and the Basque Government's Deputy Minister for Linguistic Policy plans to expresses here commitment to continue to support the revival of indigenous languages of Mexico, by entering into a Convention, in the same way that has been signed with the Government of Colombia this same year.

On 10 July, she will go the Mexican School of Anthropology and History where an expert in the subject will give a lecture on the linguistic policies of Mexico. Lurdes Auzmendi will then speak on the evolution of linguistic mainstreaming and of the Basque Language, "which is a unique case in Europe and probably in the world; I am convinved that it will be of great interest for all the linguists who will meet in Mexico," stressed the Deputy Minister.

At the end of her trip, Lurdes Auzmendi will visit the Basque centre of the Mexican capital to meet the Basques of the centre and talk to them. Alongside the opportunity to strengthen ties, all the attendees will be able to discover how the Basque Language has evolved in recent years.