From October 9 to 11, the 28th General Assembly of the World Council of Houses of the Azores will bring together representatives from six countries in San Carlos, a city founded by Azorean settlers in 1763. The gathering celebrates a diaspora whose history extends across centuries and whose institutions continue to connect the islands with communities throughout the world.
There are places where the Azores survive not as a distant memory but as an inheritance woven into the identity of another country. San Carlos, Uruguay, is one of those places. Founded in 1763 by Azoreans who arrived from Rio Grande do Sul, the city embodies a remarkable chapter in the Atlantic journeys of an island people. From October 9 to 11, it will become the meeting place of a worldwide Azorean community as the 28th General Assembly of the World Council of Houses of the Azores gathers under the presidency of Casa dos Açores do Uruguai – Los Azoreños.
The opening session on Friday, October 9, will bring together Luís Garcia, President of the Legislative Assembly of the Autonomous Region of the Azores; Paulo Estêvão, Regional Secretary for Parliamentary Affairs and Communities; and Conceição Pilar, Portugal’s Ambassador to Uruguay. Their presence reflects the institutional importance of a gathering that connects the political institutions of the archipelago with organizations preserving Azorean heritage across several continents.
The assembly will begin with a panel exploring the centuries-old relationships between the Azores, Uruguay and southern Brazil. Participants include Sofía Quintana Ruíz, Azorean Diaspora Councillor for Uruguay; Régis Marques Gomes, Diaspora Councillor for Rio Grande do Sul; Andrea Moniz-DeSouza, President of the Association of Azorean Emigrants; Luís Panasco, Portuguese Communities Councillor in Uruguay and President of Casa de Portugal in Montevideo; and Rui Baceira, Deputy Head of Mission at the Portuguese Embassy. Their discussions will revisit the historical foundations of these connections while considering the continuing role of diaspora institutions.
Twenty-three Houses of the Azores from Portugal, Brazil, the United States, Canada, Uruguay and Bermuda are expected to participate. Portugal will be represented by organizations from Lisbon, the North, Madeira, the Central Region and Alentejo. Brazil’s delegation includes Houses from Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Rio Grande do Sul, Maranhão, Espírito Santo, Minas Gerais, Ceará and Amapá. The United States will be represented by California, New England and Hawaii, while Canada’s participating organizations come from Quebec, Ontario, Winnipeg and Alberta. Uruguay and Bermuda complete this extensive geography of Azorean belonging.
The first afternoon will be dedicated to internal deliberations, including presentations by new Houses participating as observers, consideration of the admission of Casa dos Açores da Região Centro as a full member, and decisions concerning the Council’s presidency for 2026–2027 and the location of its 29th General Assembly in 2027. On Saturday, October 10, the Houses will present their activities to the Azorean parliamentary and government representatives, including regional deputies from PSD, CDS-PP, PPM, PS and BE. The evening will conclude with a performance of Azorean-Carolinian dances organized by the host institution, bringing to the gathering a cultural tradition shaped by the meeting of Azorean and South American inheritances.
Sunday’s closing session will include the presentation of conclusions, certificates of participation and the formal transfer of the Council’s presidency. The gathering will also recognize individuals whose contributions have helped sustain the Azorean presence in Uruguay, awarding medals of merit to Brenda Martinez de Corbo, Marisa Fígoli Pereira, Washington Pereira and Modesta Esquef. Azorean folklore will receive the distinction of Quality Azorean Product, acknowledging the cultural value of traditions transmitted across generations and preserved far from their original island communities.
Founded on November 13, 1997, in Horta, on the island of Faial, the World Council of Houses of the Azores was established to strengthen the international presence of the archipelago and encourage social, cultural and economic relationships between the islands and the communities established abroad. Its member organizations have often been described as “Embassies of Azoreanness,” an expression that recognizes their role in preserving identity while building relationships with the societies in which they operate.
The choice of San Carlos carries particular historical resonance. According to the assembly’s organizers, Uruguay has had nine presidents of the republic with documented Azorean ancestry, an indication of how deeply the descendants of island settlers became integrated into the country’s national history. What began as migration eventually became participation in the political, cultural and social life of another nation.
As the Azores commemorate 50 years of political Autonomy and approach the commemorations of six centuries of their history, the gathering in Uruguay offers another perspective on what it means to belong to the archipelago. Autonomy defines the islands’ political institutions, but the cultural geography of the Azorean people has never been confined to their shores.
In San Carlos, that larger geography will once again become visible. From California to Santa Catarina, from Quebec to Bermuda, from the Portuguese mainland to Uruguay, the Houses of the Azores will gather not merely to preserve what their ancestors carried across the ocean, but to consider what that inheritance can continue to create.
For the Azores have always been nine islands in the Atlantic. Yet wherever their descendants transform memory into culture, heritage into community and distance into enduring connection, another island is born—not upon the sea, but within the human geography of belonging.
Based on a story from Diário dos Açores-Paulo Viveiros, director. The photo is also from DA.