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Message from the President Dear members and friends of HSV,

This Committee is totally engaged in providing the best possible outcomes for this Society. We accepted the challenge without being concerned about adding many extra hours in addition to our normal professional jobs. Each Tertulia involves an extraordinary amount of work and planning. For instance, the idea of the Chile Tertulia was initiated in August last year when we met the Consul Diego Velasco at the Melbourne Latin America Dialogue. The Latin Jazz Tertulia for this September was practically born in November 2012 and so on. For this Committee the best retribution to our efforts constitutes the attendance to the programmed events. Unfortunately less than 50% of those who attend the Tertulias are financial members. For instance in the Chile Tertulia last month, of the 82 who went that night, only 35 were financial. It means that we (the Committee) and very few members had to make an extraordinary effort to attract 47 guests to complete the numbers. This situation is happening every month. At the moment the HSV is close to 70 members and would be really encouraging and stimulating for all of us to see the majority of members showing their support with their attendance.

Let’s move into another topic. Some Latin American countries celebrate their independence day in July. All of them to commemorate the anniversary of independence from Spain rule. Venezuela celebrates its “Fiesta Patria” the 5th of July each year. Colombia the 20th of July and Peru the 28th of the same month. These days are very important in each country and are even celebrated with great enthusiasm in other latitudes by their expatriates. And Australia could not be the exception. The Venezuelan Association of Australia is inviting our Society to celebrate the Venezuelan Independence Day the 7th of July (Sunday) from 2 pm to 7 pm. We have also received an invitation from the Peruvian Association to join their Dinner-Dance celebration on Saturday 27th of July from 6 pm until midnight. Complete details are provided in other section of this newsletter. Hasta pronto,

Luis Alban

LA SOCIEDAD HISPANICA DE VICTORIA

INC. (ESTABLECIDA EN EL AÑO 1952)

Volume 4, Issue 7 July 2013

The Hispanic Society of Victoria

Cordially invites to celebrate

Christmas in July

Hispanic style

Sunday 14th July @ 12:30 pm – 3:00 pm

Enjoy the Venezuelan Choir “Cambur Pintón

interpreting beautiful Christmas songs

Christmas lunch will be served

Venue Address

Box Hill Community Arts Centre

470 Station Street, Box Hill 3128

Melway reference 47D11

Members $15 Teens $ 10 Non Members $20

Booking

For catering purposes, please let us know if you are

attending this event. Please contact:

Esther Gomez on 0437 754 358

Gloria Madrigales on 0400 157 353

Or by email to societyhispanic@gmail.com by

Thursday 11th July 2013

GALA NIGHT: DINNER DANCE

“CELEBRATING HISPANIC DAY”

Tickets are now on sale

Venue: Box Hill Golf Club

Date: Saturday 19 October 2013

Live entertainment and band

$45 members - $55 non-members

Contact E. Gomez or G. Madrigales

H S V N e w s l e t t e r J u l y 2 0 1 3

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Latin America heads in different directions

By Professor Rodney Maddock – HSV member

Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru are forming

a new economic block – the Pacific Alliance.

They have abolished visa restrictions and have

now signed a trade agreement which removes

most tariffs between the countries. As such they

form a block which is as big as Brazil and

growing a lot faster (4.6% last year compared to

Brazil’s 1.8%). The Pacific Alliance countries

have decided to pursue an Asian style of growth

embracing trade, globalization, and more liberal

policies.

The old Mercosur grouping (originally Brazil,

Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay, and joined

recently by Venezuela and Bolivia) has headed

in the opposite direction, focusing much more

on state-run companies and their domestic

economies, rather than deepening their

economic linkages. The original dreams of more

open economies, and shared development, have

withered.

The same might happen to the Pacific Alliance.

Grand plans do not necessarily generate

concrete benefits. The people of Latin America

have seen many grand plans fail to be

successfully implemented. Making a success of

the Pacific Alliance will be difficult. At the

moment there is not a lot of trade between the

four members, and Mexico in particular has

been a lot more focused on its linkages to the

United States and Canada rather than towards

the south. There are not well-developed ports,

railways and roads which would facilitate any

big increases in trade.

Nevertheless it is encouraging to see that these

dynamic Latin countries are trying to find ways

to continue with their growth spurt, and if they

are successful living standards should continue

to rise. Where Latin countries once blamed

‘dependencia’ for their slow economic

development, the new grouping shows a real

willingness to establish its own place in the

world on its own terms.

June Tertulia: Chile

The Chile Tertulia has been one of the most successful

events of this Society. The speaker, Diego Velasco –

General Consul of Chile in Melbourne – made a graphic

comparison between what we have here in Australia and

what the Chileans also enjoy in their country:

Landscape, shopping malls, transportation, airports,

metro systems, parks, hotels, etc. I think it was an

excellent way of highlighting several positive aspects of

this South American country where 17 million people

live in an area of 750,000 skm. In conclusion, Chile is

one of the leaders in the region by achieving positive

economic results and investing heavily in education. It

is also a multicultural society that has embraced Croats,

Italians, Spaniards, Jewish, German, Korean, French

and Greeks.

The Tertulia was also full of music and dance with

Veronica, Bernardo, Sebastian and other skilful dancers

enjoying the “cueca chilena” including the Consul

Diego Velasco. The group Tunari interpreted beautiful

music from the Andes. The famous “empanadas

chilenas” and Chilean wine was the menu of the night.

Many thanks to those members and friends whose

enthusiastic input made this event successful.

Save These Dates

Sun 14 July Christmas in July

Sat 10 August Argentina

(Silvia Wright-Davies)

Sat 15 September Latin Jazz

(Saul Zavarce)

Sat 19 October “Hispanic Day” party

Celebrating Hispanic

culture in Victoria

Sat 16 November TBA

Sunday 8 December Christmas BBQ

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Chile Tertulia - Saturday, June 15, 2013

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Other Events of Interest

http://www.melbournefilmoteca.org/next.html

Domingo 7 de Julio de 2013

2:00pm a 7:00pm

St Brigid’s Church Town Hall

378 Nicholson St Fitzroy North VIC 3068

Miembros VAA: $15 por persona

Admisión General: $20 por persona

http://us5.campaign-

archive2.com/?u=1d627e7953b28263b1fd4de1c&id=0fdff3d958&e=

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Place: St Kilda Town Hall When: 20th of July Festival Time : 12:00pm to 1:00am Festival Price : FREE EVENT http://www.aroundyou.com.au/events/the-official-colombian-independence-day-2013#.UdFw3Pn-Lps

Our HSV Sponsors