LERC Attends Mexico Event Commemorating Lebanese Emigrants

Beirut, 8th December 2007: The early December rains held off for a few hours to allow a commemorative ceremony celebrating the remarkable role of migration in the modern history of both Mexico and Lebanon to take place at the site of the memorial of the Lebanese Emigrant at Charles Helou Avenue, which poignantly faces towards the Port of Beirut, the main point of departure for thousands of Lebanese emigrants to Mexico.

The Lebanese Emigrant monument stands proud in the idyllic port of Veracruz, a popular landing point for Lebanese entering Mexico.

Concurrently, a replica of the Lebanese Emigrant bronze statue was formally unveiled at the Port of Veracruz, in Mexico, which was the main port of landing for Lebanese emigrants. The ceremony was attended by the Governor of the State of Veracruz, Fidel Herrera; the President of the Municipality, Julem Rementeria; members of the Executive Committee of the Lebanese Club; members of the Lebanese Club in Mexico; H.E. Nouhad Mahmoud, the Lebanese Ambassador to Mexico; H.E. Georges Saad Abi Younes, the Bishop of the Maronite Church in Mexico; and members of the Lebanese community in Mexico.

In Lebanon the ceremony was attended by the Mexican Ambassador to Lebanon, H.E Jorge Alvarez; and the Honorary Consul of Mexico, Roger Abed, members of the Municipal Council of Beirut, the Associate Director of the Lebanese Emigration Research Center Ms. Guita Hourani, the President of the Mexican-Lebanese Friendship Association Dr. George Hayek, and the Secretary General of the World Lebanese Cultural Union. Also participating in the event were several Latin American ambassadors, mayors of several Lebanese villages with a large number of migrants to Mexico, members of the Mexican community in Lebanon and Lebanese-Mexican returnees and their families.

While paying a tribute to the past, the aim of both ceremonies was to highlight the Lebanese emigrants’ contribution to Mexico as well as their deep attachment to the land of their ancestors, while bringing to the fore the ongoing multi-faceted phenomenon of migration.

 

A statement issued by the Mexican Embassy described the Lebanese migrants and their descendants, such as those in Mexico, as full of inventiveness, courage and loyalty, dedicated towards their adopted country and rewarded by finding success in business, politics, trade and other professions while at the same time contributing and enriching the political, cultural and social life of their new home country.

Traditionally, Lebanon is often seen as the embodiment of the many push-and-pull factors that incite people to leave their homelands then attracts some to return after long journeys.

Modern-day Mexico, the statement said, is a fine example of an organized, supportive and well integrated community of Mexicans coming from Lebanese origins that is seen to have created a bridge between the two countries and their peoples.

H.E. the Ambassador of Mexico, Jorge Alvarez, addressing the audience at the site of the Lebanese Emigrant memorial of the Port of Beirut.

During the ceremony in Beirut, all those attending stood in tents erected around the statue but stepped out into the court to witness the national flags of both countries being hoisted as the national anthems were being played.

H. E. Jorge Alvarez then gave a moving tribute to the history and customs of Lebanese migration to Mexico, explaining with mesmerizing eloquence the deep friendship between both countries and peoples, and expressing acknowledgement of the ties that bind, many of which were created and nurtured by Mexicans of Lebanese descent.

Other brief speeches and poems marked the occasion and linked symbolically the ceremonies at the two widely-separated ports.

LERC was represented at the event by Associate Director Guita Hourani, by Research Assistant Elie Nabhan, by Roberto Khatlab, LERC’s Latin-American liaison officer, and by Rodrique Hourani, a returnee and a member of the Friends of LERC.

At the unveiling of the Lebanese Emigrant monument in Mexico: H.E. Fidel Herrera, Governor of the State of Veracruz, receiving a memorabilia to mark the event (2007).