In this second article of a trilogy that addresses migrations as intrinsic events in the history of humanity, I invite you to go through the migrations of Europeans to South and Central America.

^{EUROPEAN COUNTRIES THAT CURRENTLY EXPRESS XENOPHOBIA AND FRUSTRATION OVER MIGRATION, IN THE RECENT PAST, MIGRANTS IN THIRD WORLD COUNTRIES.}

^{Photo 1. European immigration in Argentina. Source}

The immigration of Europeans to South and Central America, originating mainly in countries such as Italy, Spain, Portugal, Poland and the Russian Empire, was a particularly intense phenomenon in colonial times, during European wars and dictatorships, and in times of economic crisis, famines, political repression and other difficulties present in Europe.

Some 6.5 million Europeans migrated to Argentina, mostly Italians and Spaniards. Of these, 2 million Italians and 1,400,000 Spaniards settle permanently in the country.

26,000 Europeans entered Venezuela between 1874 and 1888; another 300,000 between 1905 and 1930 and by the decade of the 50s of the twentieth century, it was estimated that 1,000,000 grandchildren of these migrants were born.

1,000,000 Europeans migrated to Uruguay, of these 350,000 came from Italy and the rest from Spain. 60% of immigrants settled permanently in this country.

It is estimated that between 1882 and 1932 726,000 European immigrants arrived in Chile. During the nineteenth century there were significant immigrations of European origin, highlighting the German immigration with 300,000 people, mainly brought for the German colonization in southern Chile and the Croatian and Spanish immigration also with 300,000 people, which reached its peak before the First World War. In second order was French immigration, with 25,000 colonists, reaching 30,000 Franco-Chileans at the end of the nineteenth century. It is followed by Italian and English immigration with 500,000, mainly in coastal cities. During the early twentieth century, a third wave of Spaniards fleeing the Spanish Civil War arrived in Chile, mainly Catalans but also Basques, French and Spanish.

During the nineteenth century, 15,000 Spaniards settled in Colombia and in the twentieth century another 70,000. It is estimated that more than 3 million Colombians are of Basque origin, mostly settled in the Andean Region of the country. The Italians are the second European group with the largest presence. The convention on Italian migration around the world reported a number of more than 2 million descendants of Italians in Colombia, mainly in the Caribbean Region. The Germans, in smaller numbers, immigrated mainly after the Second World War and settled mainly in the departments of Santander and Norte de Santander, known among others, for founding the second oldest airline in the world in 1919, currently called Avianca.

About 150,000 European migrants from Spain, Germany, Italy and France arrived in Peru. Of these, about 80,000 thousand stayed permanently.
Another large recipient of immigrants has been Brazil, where some five million Europeans arrived between 1860 and 1920, of whom 3 million settled permanently.

In Central America, the most prominent migratory phenomenon from Europe was to Costa Rica, which, during the second half of the nineteenth century and the first half of the twentieth century, welcomed more than 100,000 Europeans, mainly of Spanish and Italian origin. It is estimated that about 50,000 Spaniards and Italians, 10,000 Germans and 40,000 of other nationalities arrived, especially from France, Poland and England.

In El Salvador, the immigration of Europeans has been present since the mid-nineteenth century, beginning with the Sephardic Jewish immigration from Spain and followed by the arrival of between 40,000 and 50,000 Jews from Central and Southern Europe (mainly from Germany, Italy, Switzerland and France) during World War II. 

Cuba welcomed about 750,000 Europeans in the 19th century and 529,000 during the 20th century. In total, some 600,000 Europeans settled in Cuba. 

By 1898, 10,000 Spaniards had entered Puerto Rico. 

There is also information that reveals the massive entry of Germans to Guatemala, of the English to Nicaragua and of a multitude of Europeans to Panama during the French construction of the Canal.

European immigration to Mexico comes mainly from Spain, but also from other countries such as France, Italy, Ireland, England, Germany and Imperial Russia. In the 1920s, after the conclusion of the Mexican Revolution, Mexico received refugees from the newly formed Soviet Union, including businessmen, Russian nobility and political dissidents such as Leon Trotsky.

IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY, SOUTH AND CENTRAL AMERICA EMBRACED THOUSANDS OF EUROPEANS WHO SOUGHT SHELTER AND A LIFE IN DIGNITY

After World War II, South and Central America opened their doors to the large flow of immigrants from Central Europe and Balkan countries. Although, between 1820 and 1920, 60 million Europeans emigrated to North America, with a second wave that began after World War II, South America and Central America were also territories that welcomed European migrants with care, devotion and affection.

From 1939 onwards, the migrations of Spaniards to South America were very significant, due mostly to the Civil War and the Franco Regime, since their structures as a society were in crisis due to the economic, political and social collapse also produced by the Second World War.

In 1939 more than 150,000 Spanish Republicans fled the Spanish Civil War, arriving in Mexico via the Gulf of Mexico coasts. The population of Spanish migrants increased under the six-year term of Lázaro Cárdenas, who were fleeing the Franco regime in 1940. In many cases they were artists (writers, filmmakers, painters, etc.), scientists and even entrepreneurs. The intellectual and human conditions of these migrants were very different from those of thousands of illiterate people, criminals and unscrupulous seekers of wealth who arrived in the conquest and colony, both in South America and Central America. Between 1938 and 1940, Mexico also received more than 700,000 German, Italian and Jewish immigrants who fled fascist dictatorships in Germany and Italy.

MEXICO WELCOMES AND OFFERS LIVING CONDITIONS TO MIGRANTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD AND THOUSANDS OF EUROPEAN, AMERICAN AND CANADIAN RETIREES.

^{Photo 2. Chapala, México. Source}

Although, exacerbated xenophobia forgets, countries of the so-called third world have been vital spaces that have allowed migrants from so-called developed countries to weave their lives in dignity and prosper economically. It is enough to look at Mexico, the close neighbor of the United States, to understand that humanitarian contributions immersed in migratory processes are two-way

Chapala is home to Mexico's largest U.S. community, the low cost of living for retirees, the mild climate and its growing technology industry are the main draws for U.S. citizens. Among other communities, the Spanish, Irish, Argentinean, German, Croatian, Canadian and Italian communities stand out.

In Mexico City almost all the most numerous communities per country are concentrated, among the most prominent are the communities of Americans, Lebanese, Spanish, Russian, Guatemalan, Salvadoran, Honduran, Belizean, Colombian, Argentinean, Brazilian, Chilean, Venezuelan, Peruvian, Saharawi, Kenyan, Croatian, Turkish, Norwegian, Swedish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Syrian, Puerto Rican, Haitian, Cuban.

In Baja California, U.S. immigration is the majority, but the presence of migrants from China, Haiti, India, Russia, Italy and Lebanese, Japanese, Spanish, and German migrants who mix with Guatemalan, Salvadoran, Honduran, and Ecuadorian migrants is also notable.
 

In Baja California Sur, the communities of Americans, Canadians, Chinese, and Japanese stand out. The city of La Paz has one of the largest Japanese communities in Mexico, attracted by the extraction of salt and pearls in the past.

The state of Sonora has a growing community of American and Canadian immigrants. In the city of Hermosillo, the communities of Japanese, Chinese, South Africans, Indians, Spaniards, Italians and Germans also stand out.

Chihuahua has had immigrants since Mexico seceded from Spain, American Mormons, Mennonites from Europe, Spaniards, Portuguese, Italians and Chinese are those who have had a long stay in this state.

Nuevo León is the second state in Mexico with the most immigration. Monterrey, its capital, was founded by Sephardim and from then on other communities have been established, such as Italians, Portuguese, Germans, Ukrainians, Turks, Syrians, Lebanese, French and other regions of Europe.

The state of Chiapas is the Mexican entity with the largest number of foreign populations in the south of the country. Although the largest immigrant community is that of Guatemalan citizens, there are also communities of Hondurans, Salvadorans, Chinese, Ecuadorians, Nicaraguans, Lebanese, Germans, Japanese, Koreans, Italians, Spaniards, Colombians, Cubans, Norwegians, Swiss, Syrians, Iraqis and Saudi Arabs.

The state of Sinaloa is home to the largest Greek community in Mexico, as well as Spaniards, Italians, French, Germans, Cubans, Argentines, Chinese, and Japanese. Source

^{Photo 3. Colombia my country, your multicultural and multi-ethnic country}

In the next article, the last of the triad on migration, I invite you to join me in analyzing the immigration of Europeans linked to the conquest and the colony; manifestations of violence and exploitation present in the history of migrations, yesterday and today, and to look at ourselves in miscegenation, that splendid b