Buenos Aires presents an exhibition on democracy and the Parliament of Galicia

The exhibition ‘The power of the word. A journey through the history of the Parliament of Galicia’ lands in Buenos Airescapital of ‘universal Galicia’, home to some 160,000 Galicians and center of the diaspora of this community in America.

Established in 1981, the Parliament of Galicia It is the institution of legislative power in the autonomous community and is the main guarantor of its political, linguistic and cultural plurality.

The president of Parliament since 2016, Miguel Ángel Santalices, present this Tuesday for the inauguration of the exhibition in the Argentine capital at the Galicia Center in Buenos Aires, indicated in an interview with EFE that the four decades of current Galician autonomy are reflected in the exhibition and in the book published in honor of this space.

The history of Galicia

The exhibition is made up of more than twenty panels with photographs, texts and graphics. In addition, it has historical objects, such as an urn used in Parliament and documents relevant to the recent history of Galicia.

Santalices especially valued the “plural” nature of this traveling exhibition that has already passed through the seven large Galician cities, Madrid and Lisbon.

“All political parties have given their opinion,” highlighted the president of Parliament, in which the Popular Party (PP), the Galician Nationalist Bloc (BNG) and the Party of Socialists of Galicia-PSOE (PSdeG-PSOE) are currently represented. .

In this sense, the president of the Parliament of Galicia recalled the figure of Castelao, the father of contemporary Galician nationalism and deputy in the Cortes of the Second Republic, who died in Buenos Aires in 1950, where he had remained in exile for political reasons since 1940.

“This is the fifth province and we cannot forget that this is a land that welcomes many people who had to go into exile at a certain time due to political issues and who contributed a lot to the development of autonomy,” said the president, who called to “value what immigration is from the point of view of political responsibility.”

Transition process

Furthermore, the professor Ramon Villarescoordinator of the exhibition, pointed out that the Galician Parliament “It was the expression of a desire affirmed by society in the transition process.”

But not only regional politicians passed through the halls of the Galician Parliament. The headquarters of the regional legislature has received visits from presidents of other Spanish communities, national authorities and even international leaders, such as the former Argentine president Carlos Menem (1989-1999)whose visit in 1995 to Galicia a photo is shown in the exhibition.

“Democracy and autonomy have been very good for Galicia,” said Santalices in his subsequent speech to the Galician community in Buenos Aires, who attended the opening of the exhibition in the lobby of the Galicia Center in the Argentine capital.

Defense of democracy

The Spanish ambassador to Argentina was also present at the event, Maria Jesus Alonsowhich valued the importance of Parliaments as “the only loophole left for the defenders of democracy.”

The ambassador also referred to the importance of an exhibition about democracy in the current times that it is going through. Argentinawhich held its last presidential election in November.

“In these moments that we are experiencing today, with a polarization that affects democratic countries, we must defend the institution of Parliament for what it is: the place to speak, discuss and reach consensus and agreements,” added Alonso.

The same exhibition will open next Friday in neighboring Montevideo, another center of Galician immigration.

Now, “the power of the Galician word” resonates in Buenos Aires along with the melody of bagpipes and traditional drums.