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WELCOME TO THE PORTUGUESE-AMERICAN HISTORICAL & RESEARCH FOUNDATION Do you want to learn Portuguese in West Palm Beach, Florida? Click here: www.pacsflorida.com/escolalusitana.htm PALCUS Gala 2008 in California |
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My forebears were Crypto Jews of Portugese Ancestry who settle in Northern Mexico in a region known as Nuevo Leon. Monterrey the capital is the richest city in Latin America above Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires. We were forced by the Inquisition to give up our Jewish faith by force. My Jewish people came from Portugal. I am proudly fluent in the Portuguese language, I visited Lisbon and I fell in love with the city and the hospitality of the people. I felt more at home in Portugal than in Spain. Hispanic is an American invention. I have traveled in Latin America including Brazil, a the word hispanic has no meaning outside the borders of United States. Brazil is like United States a multicultural society. Brazil has more Italians than United States and over two million Japanese and from other European countries. Pasta and Sushi are part of the Brazilian national diet. American Portuguese should travel more, and visit their homeland and Brazil one of the next power houses in this century according to the Economist. Spain and Portugual have shared the same territory and at one time both countries were only one. I find sad that American Portuguese feel shame of being called or mistaken by Hispanics. Andy Garcia like Fidel Castro are Hispanics with parents or grand parents from Galicia, a region of Spain where Gallego a Portuguese language is spoken and is also consider one of the richest regions in Spain. I am so happy and proud of my mediterranean ancestry. When I am in Lisbon or Madrid I am just another Portuguese or Spaniard and when I am in another country I just realized that I am a citizen of the world. My jewish forebears were not given a change, they were killed and executed. That is why intolerance wont take us any where. Dialogue is the key to everything. If you do not know where you come from, you do not know where you go. Jose L Garcia The earliest known human inhabitants of the region now known Nuevo León were a small number of Native American nomads. They left no written records, so the recorded history of the region begins with the arrival of European colonists towards the end of the 16th century. After several failed attempts, a group of immigrants, among them several families of converted Jews, arrived on the Mexican coast aboard the Santa Catarina. The Jewish imprint in this colony was mild due to acculturation of conversos to Christianity, but some Jewish customs are still seen today such as food preparation and holiday observances that remained passed through tradition. Led by the Portuguese Luis Carvajal y de la Cueva they settled in what is now the city of Monterrey in fulfilment of a commitment made by King Philip II of Spain: the establishment of the New Kingdom of León (Nuevo Reino de León).
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Non-Profit organization incorporated under the laws of North Carolina. Dedicated to the Research of Early American History and the Portuguese Making of America * Federal Identification Number 56-1994763 * NC License No. 7020 600137811. The Portuguese-American Historical & Research Foundation is a publicly supported educational organization under IRS 509 (a) (2), and approved by the Internal Revenue Code to operate as described in section 501 (c) (3). Click here to see letter of determination. Commercial Free Web Site:
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