Writer Carmen Verlichak, a member of the Argentine Academy of Sciences and Arts, published a letter in the Argentine newspaper La Nación on 20 January, calling for the opening of an embassy in Croatia and emphasising that the "relations between the two countries have been strong for centuries."
Now, a group of Croatian emigrants in Argentina has joined this request.
In a letter published on Monday in La Nación, they stated that they support Verlichak’s petition.
"Argentinians residing in Croatia or visiting as tourists, in case of any difficulty, must turn to the Argentine embassy in Budapest," they said.
They pointed out that more than "half a million" people in Argentina are connected to Croatia through culture, trade, and tourism.
"We believe that resolving this situation would be beneficial for both nations," reads the letter, signed by Marta Opacak, Diana Orlov, Maria Cristina Josipovic, and Alejandro Alvarez Josipovic.
Croats began emigrating to Argentina in larger numbers after 1848, with the numbers increasing until 1918. The second, significantly larger wave of immigration took place between the First and Second World Wars (1918–1939).
During this period, most of the emigrants came from Croatia’s coastal regions, but there were also migrants from Banija, Lika, Kordun, Slavonia, Srijem, Herzegovina, and northern Bosnia.
The third wave followed after World War II (1945–1956) when Croatian political emigrants arrived in Argentina.