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| Carlos
Gil (above) introduces the most important naturist workers
in Latinoameric: |
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CHILE
René Rojas |
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ARGENTINA
Florencia Brenner |
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URUGUAY
Carlos Mª Lucas |
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FIRST
LATIN-AMERICA TOUR BY THE FNI/IFN HIGH COMMISSIONER
FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF NATURISM IN THE REGION,
CARLOS GIL. DECEMBER-2004 |
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The FEN, Spanish Naturist
Federation, requested that Carlos
Gil, the FEN Secretary, were commissioned
to visit several Latin-American countries.
This request was placed at the INF/FNI
XXlX World Congress in Croatia.
Carlos Gil had already
established contact with several promoters
and other people of naturist ideas
in the region. That and the fact that
he could fly cheaply due to his working
for Iberia airlines, made him an ideal
candidate. At the end of the World
Congress the Central Committee met
with the FEN representatives and the
proposal was examined together in
greater detail.
As
neither the commission or the commissioner
were given a name, I give it one now,
along the lines of the European Union
terminology, now in fashion, the INF-FNI
‘High Commissioner’ for
the Development of Naturism in Latin-America.
The outcome of this first
tour was a great success well above
our expectations. You will further
see in the report which follows down
below the evolution of naturism in
these three countries after the visit
of the High Commissioner. This report
will keep expanding as we receive
further data.
Congratulations for a job well
done, Carlos.
Congratulations
for a job well done, Carlos.
Ismael Rodrigo, presidente de la
FEN
January 2005 |
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MY INF/IFN TRIP
IN SOUTH AMERICA.: CHILE - ARGENTINA - URUGUAY,
by Carlos Gil
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CHILE, René Rojas |
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November
30th
I arrive on the 30th at 9:30. René
Rojas was there waiting for mi as
he had told me. His friend and club
member, Iván, was also there
with him.
After a 12 hour flight, and an 80
minute nap, I was taken to PLAYA
LUNA, the naturist main venue.
The place is beautiful, (it reminded
me of Templo del Sol, in Tarragona,
Spain). René and Iván
informed me about their expectations,
its history and its potential as a
naturist place.
An hour later, the journalists from
“Últimas
Noticias”. (click), arrived.
At three o’clock we went to
have something to eat to a rural area
by the road.
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There I showed them all
the material I had with me and I took
some time to explain what the INF is
all about. In the afternoon we met the
mayor of the municipality, Agustín
Valencia. The beach, PUCHUNCAVÍ,
is within the boundaries of that municipality.
He confessed himself a naturist as he
is a nudist for recreation but he would
never confess it in public. He was enthusiastic
about declaring the beach as part of
an ecologically protected area to protect
the seagull nests and the local beaver.
I spent the night at my relatives’.
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December
1st
I have an appointment at ‘El
Mercurio’, the newspaper,
at ten.
For over two hours I am interviewed
for the Sunday edition of that newspaper
which is sold all over the country.
Later, picture taking in the garden
of the newspaper building.
After lunch, I take the bus and head
for Valparaíso, a city with
many administration services. I visit
the house of the poet Pablo Neruda,
and stroll round the city which has
been declared World Heritage by UNESCO.
I have dinner with Cristobal Fernández,
Director of the Department for Industry
at the Federico Santamaría
University for Technology, and with
Carlos Ramírez, |
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| Director of International
Relations and Cooperation of the University
of Valparaíso. We talk about
the above mentioned project for Playa
Luna. I again spend the night at my
r elatives’. |
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December
2nd
I leave Valparaíso at 7:50
and board the coach to Santiago.
At 10:00 I meet the Director of the
National Tourist Service, ( SERNATUR,
S.) Santalices, who holds the same
rank as a Minister, and his closest
assistants. Rojas is also present.
The outcome is very positive. These
are some of the agreements: 1. to
set up an integral plan for the area,
2. To promote social awareness through
the media, 3. The Playa-Luna Group
is given the management of the beach,
4. The establishment of an environmental
action plan together with the municipality
and Playa Luna in order to protect
the local beaver, in danger of extinction,
and the seagull nests, and finally,
5. |
Santalices,
René & Carlos
in Sernatur |
To set up, in a short period of
time, three naturist developments
in three abandoned mining towns
in the North of Chile. Blue flags
will be raised in high environmental
quality beaches, naturist beaches
included. To discuss the particulars
of these projects there will be
three party meetings: SERNATUR,
the mayor of Puchuncaví and
the Playa Luna management.
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During the International
Fair for Tourism, (FITUR), January/February
2005, in Madrid, there will be working
sessions in order to outline the future
of tourism for naturists in Chile.
We hold a press conference at the end
of our meeting. See: La
Tercera; Las
Últimas Noticias;Another
fromLa
Tercera; La
Nación (recomended)
In the afternoon I visited the public
exhibition, ‘Painted
Bodies’, in La Moneda Square.
Later, working session in the home of
René Rojas.
My relatives put me up for the night.
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Can't
imagine Pinochet walking into the
Casa de la Moneda: a carabineer, the
Chilean flag...and naked bodies! |
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| ARGENTINA |
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December 3RD
At 7:30 I leave for the airport of Santiago,
bound for Córdoba, Argentina,
on a LAN Chile flight. I arrive in Córdoba
and I have to wait for over an hour
to go through customs. Miguel Suárez,
the promoter of Yatan
Rumi.
, is waiting for me.
We stop in Córdoba to work on
the Internet and to have a photo session.
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Yatan Rumi is a 1,200
Hectares property, a granite quarry,
which is crossed by several rivers and
with and exceptional flora of bushes
and trees. There are cows, fowls, foxes
and insects which shared the place with
us. The condors and the eagles flew
very close to our shelter.
It may very well be the widest and most
ecological naturist place in the world.
Presently it was taken care of by Pablo
Urso, the painter.
The Yatan Rumi people are friendly and
cordial. They treat visitors as if they
were members of their family. We spent
the night in a hut under the stars.
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December
4th
The birds chirping wake us up. After
breakfast all the lodgers at the cabin
go for a walk.
We saw remains of old stone houses,
cows and their calves. We swam in
a river and then we returned for lunch
under the powerful sun of the southern
tip.
Foxes keep us company, (we were twelve
in all), and take away whatever remains
of our meal.
We go out for another stroll in the
country. On our return we talk about
organized naturism. After supper we
have a rest after the four hours of
talks. It was two in the morning.
December 5th
In the morning, Pablo Urso, Florencia
Brenner, secretary for the APANNA,
and I had breakfast while we continued
with the talks of the night before.
Among other items in the agenda, we
prepared the meeting with the Argentine
Secretary of State. |
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Three journalists from
the first paper in the country, Clarín,
turn up at lunch time:
- Crece
la movida naturista, ¿se viene
una Argentina al desnudo? (14-I-2005)
- Los
nudistas nos miramos siempre a los ojos
(17-I-2005)
- Infobae: Buenos
Aires al natural (18 Enero 2005) |
We are interviewed and taken some
pictures in the country. The German
photographer is a regular naturist.
The weather gets worse and ends up raining.
Florence takes the bus, I head for the
airport: our destination, Buenos Aires.
At 23:30 I go to spend the night at
APREA, ‘bed and breakfast’
in the very centre of the federal capital. |
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"El
Tobagán" of Yatam Rumi
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December
6th
I have breakfast with one of the owners,
Sergio Aprea
(see website). See video-reportaje
from Canal 9 (wmv, 1,3MB). At 10:00
a.m. I have and interview with the most
important radio personality in Argentina,
Rolando
Hangling. Somebody that was listening,
gives me a call and wants to know more
about naturism. She is a partner in
a small chain of hotels. We agree to
meet later in the afternoon.
At 4:00, L. shows up and tells me of
her interest in setting up a naturist
hotel in Iguazú. That is a tourist
area not far from the Falls. I think
she is enthusiastic about the development
of naturist tourism and its potential.
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She said she
would put forward the proposal at the
next Executive Board meeting.
After that, the Aprea club members and
I meet again in order to decide whether
they want to run a naturist hotel, as
an alternative to their present status.
They put me up for the night at Aprea.
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December
7th
I spend the morning in the centre of
the capital city getting Iberia flight
tickets, bus tickets to go to Rosario,
photocopying pictures and working on
the Internet.
In the afternoon I meet some journalists
and we agree to take on the commitment
to spread the notion of naturism even
further, in the near future.
At 20:30, the founding members of APANNA
hold a welcoming reception for me at
Florencia Brenner’s , the Secretary.
At the ensuing meeting we deal with
topics such as information, organization
and naturist proper. |
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We also talk about INF,
FEN, the history of naturism and others.
In order to provide a service to the
community, they conclude, they must
start looking for a place for naturist
recreation.
The meeting ends at 1:30 and I head
for Aprea. |
December
8th
José Blanco and another member
of EDEN,
come to pick me up at 10:30. Then,
they take me to their property in
the Department of Moreno, an administrative
area, an hour away from Buenos Aires.
EDEN is a property of about 12,500
square metres, which has a house,
small pool, garden and a restaurant
and sports area.
There were about 20 people at the
presentations and talk. We also had
lunch, after which the leading commission
and I meet to discuss all about the
INF membership as they could not see
the difference there was between being
a club or an association. What part
they could play within the INF was
item under discussion. |
EDEN's
Governing Board |
They define themselves
as a welcoming club of nudists in
this rented property. A group of eight
persons manage the place.
At 18:30 they drop me at Aprea.
I take the bus towards Rosario at
19:45 and I arrive there at 23:55.
I spend the night in the house of
some relatives of mine. |
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December
9th
At 11:30 I give a short talk at the
Faculty for Civil Engineering and at
12:30 I am interviewed for Channel 3
TV.
Anecdotes: outside people were waiting
for me to ask me all kinds of questions
on how and where to be anaturist in
Rosario. I am stopped in the street,
several times, to congratulate me on
my work and give me their support for
the movement. One of them was the head
of the anti-drug police department.
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I have lunch with a professor at the
Faculty for Civil Engineering.
I meet Claudio Márquez, the driving
force behind the naturist movement in
Rosario. He is trying to found a naturist
association.
I have supper with my relatives and
leave for Buenos Aires by bus at 2:05.
I sleep on board. |
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December
10th
I arrive at Retiro, Buenos Aires bus
station, at 6:00. I take a taxi cab
to APREA. I take a short rest there
after breakfast.
Jorge, the APANNA president, comes
round to pick me up to go by taxi
cab to a meeting with Carlos Meyer,
the Secretary of State for Tourism
in Argentina directly under the
President of the Nation. We start
at 13:00 and we soon find we understand
each other well. He is highly knowledgable
and open minded. , Alejandro García,
Director for International Relations
to the Secretary was also present.
The Mayor of Buenos Aires and the
head of the province could not be
located, (as they were actually travelling),
in spite of Mr Meyer’s efforts
to bring them to the meeting.
We agreed to meet during FITUR, the
Tourism International Fair, in Madrid.
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Carlos with
the Licenciado Alejandro García,
the Director of the International
Relations Office for Tourism&
Jorge Virinni, APANNA president
Press: "Ya
hay 7 lugares donde se puede hacer
nudismo en la Argentina"
(Corrientes Noticias, 20-I-2005)
Similar news in Clarín
(17-I-05) |
I come back to Aprea,
to retrieve my personal belongings and
say good bye.
I board a Pluna airline company plane
at Aeroparque bound for Punta del Este,
Uruguay.
At my arrival, Marcela and her children
were waiting for me to take me to El
Refugio, the place which her husband,
Ricardo Rodal, runs facing the naturist
beach of Chihuahua, at 12 Km from Punta
del Este.
I have supper and try to fall asleep.
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| URUGUAY |
Flor- Ricardo-Carlos
Mª Lucas-Laventure-Carlos "Liga
de Fomento de Punta del Este"
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December 11th
11
I wake up in Chihuahua.
What a beautiful feeling: the sun, the
birds and the sea, (who cares whether
it is a river or a sea: the mouth is
50 Km wide); all join in.
We have a relaxing breakfast and then
a stroll on the sand.
As the new Government will take over
in February, 2005, we decided to visit
the tourist authorities of those regions
most frequented, Punta
del Este and Rocha.
This morning we meet Martín Laventure,
Director of the Office for Tourism in
the administrative region
of Maldonado, Punta del Este. The
meeting was a success, which is becoming
the norm with the politicians, committing
his office to an assortment of decisions
concerning the local naturist movement.
The president of the Uruguayan Naturist
Association, AUDEN, Ricardo, owner of
El Refugio, and Florencia from the APANNA,
Mr Laventure and I had a press conference,
in the presence of photographers and
TV cameras. As a follow up, we were
invited to a radio station and a TV
channel to express our opinions.
We also met Néstor González
, a local representative for the enterprising
world. I had the opportunity of explaining
the development of that commercial sector
in Spain. They agreed to support our
movement and they in turn requested
our collaboration in order to find all
kinds of support from European institutions.
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Later, we went to Channel
7 TV, where we were interviewed. We
invited the people who interviewed us
to come and join us at the beach the
next day, as they showed such an interest.
(see El
País, pdf document)
We had supper and spent the night at
El Refugio. |
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December
12th
I went out to take some pictures as
it was a sunny day, and then I had
breakfast.
In the middle of the morning a reporter
and a Channel 7 cameraman, (Maldonado)
and Channel 10, (Montevideo), arrived.
We were interviewed in a very correct
manner and they asked the permission
of those naturists at the beach before
shooting. Most of them agreed as they
are eager to spread the philosophy
in Uruguay.
At 16:30 an official car comes by
El Refugio hotel to drive us to Rocha.
Rocha is an administrative province
in the north of the country which
holds areas of natural beauty. Many
of these areas have been declared
‘Reverve of the Biosphere’
by the UNESCO.
Jorge Simeone was there waiting for
us. He is a Director for Tourism
in Rocha. |
Interview: Ricardo
and his family |
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| There were also those
people who had demanded the official
recognition of Aguas Dulces, a 2 Km
long and 400 m wide area of dunes, as
a naturist place. Some handcrafted placards
with the name of Playa la Sirena welcome
the local and national press which is
present there that day. Cacho Cola,
its promoter, showed us what from now
on is going to be naturist diggings,
whose owner is Mr Cola himself. I show
him the material I have which shows
what is being done round the world.
The area is immediately declared a nudist
area. |
We meet Mr Simeone for
an hour. He assures us that this is
the first step to declare all the Rocha
shore a naturist recreation area and
the official acceptance of nudism all
over the province.
A reporter from El País, the
Spanish newspaper, interviews us, Carlos
Lucas and me, back again in Punta del
Este.
We arrive at El Refugio at 23:50. Exhausted,
I fall asleep.
Aspen:
Carlos Gil radio Interview. (mp3,
1,30MB, 5 min) |
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See you soon Chihuahua
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December 13th
THE COMEBACK
We had breakfast at 8:00. Ricardo gives
me a lift to the airport at 10:00. The
Pluna flight is bound for Aeroparque,
Buenos Aires airport. I take a cab for
Ezeiza, in order to board the Iberia
flight to Madrid at 14:30. |
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December
14th
MADRID
I arrived in Madrid, Barajas, at 6:00.
I head for home straight away to leave
the luggage, have a shower, and then
I take off for the urban
spa AQUAESTÉTICA (first
Naturist Spa in Madrid), where Ismael
Rodrigo, the FEN president, is going
to meet me and the member of the committee,
Manel, to get together with some managers
of Spanish naturist enterprises. This
is a meeting to prepare the agenda
for our first historical meeting with
the governmental highest authority
for tourism in Spain, which is expected
to be held a few hours later.
At 13:00, the Spanish Secretary of
State for Tourism, Raimón Martínez
Fraile, vonverses with us for an hour
and a half. He is also the Director
of TURESPAÑA.
The FEN president’s main proposal
and the group of businessmen who are
with us is to request state support
for the naturist tourism. For example,
to include information on Spanish
Naturist Tourism, a similar initiative
to the one undertaken by the governments
of France or Croatia.
We were greatly satisfied with the
outcome. This historical meeting will
be the topic of a future article,
though.
I return home at 21:00 and have a
rest.
For finish the day, Ismael and me
spend one hour in the national Spain
Borathcastin Radio 1, form 24:00 to
01:00. A very goog program ("El
ombligo de la luna").
Those were two weeks with a full
agenda. |
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CARLOS GIL , December 2004.- |
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