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The “Otegui” bridge joins the banks of the Arroyo at the height of the city of Minas in the Uruguayan Department of Lavalleja.  As a tribute to the Basque roots of those who constructed it, on the 90th anniversary of its inauguration, the Lavalleja Cultural Center, the Intendance and descendants of the Otegui family invited the Federation of Basque Institutions in Uruguay and the Eusko Indarra dance group from Montevideo to participate in the commemorative events. 

Minas, Uruguay.  As part of the anniversary of the Declaration of Independence celebrated in Uruguay on August 25th, the city of Minas, capital of the Department of Lavalleja, paid tribute to one of the city’s icons, the “Otegui” bridge, also inaugurated on August 25, 1927.

Regarding the history of its construction, Haize Hegoa told EuskalKultura.com that the bridge was raised by the family of Agustina Arostegui and Juan Manuel Otegui.  As far as they know, Agustina was the daughter of Jose Antonio de Arostegui, who came to Uruguay from Irun, Gipuzkoa around 1840 escaping the first Carlist War, and Ignacia Bengoechea.  Juan Manuel Otegui, on the other hand, is from the Otegui home in Amasa, near Tolosa, and came to Minas in 1865.  “After they were married, they had five children and settled in a field near the San Francisco River, but they had a problem, each time the river would rise they would be left cut off from access to the city.”

After modest attempts, that didn’t resist the rising waters, in 1927, the Otegui brothers hired Dickeroff and Widmann who planned and executed the bridge as it is known today.  “The expenses of the work were paid by the Otegui brothers, who donated the construction to thank the city that welcomed them with open arms from the time their ancestors arrived,” club sources said.

The celebration of the anniversary of the Independence of Uruguay and the inauguration of the bridge was attended by local authorities, members of the Otegui family and representatives of the Basque community, FIVU and dantzaris from Eusko Indarra directed by Mariel Fernandez Artasánchez.