Definition of Latin Union

Between 1954 and 2012 the Latin Union (UL) was an international organization oriented to the diffusion cultural. The main objective of this entity was to promote Romance languages, that is, those that come from Latin. The UL had 36 member countries and its statutes recognized six official languages: Spanish, French, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian and Catalan. The headquarters were in Paris and the reasons that led to its disappearance were economic.

A cultural heritage that was not supported by some European governments

Throughout its history, the Latin Union launched interesting cultural initiatives: exhibitions, editing of texts in Latin languages, glossaries written in different languages romances, etc.

Officially, the cultural promotion of this body ended for budgetary reasons, but it is very likely that there were political reasons behind this decision. In this sense, some analysts affirm that the conservative rulers of France, Italy and Spain in 2012 (Sarkozy, Berlusconi and Rajoy) were more interested in economic alliances than in promoting languages romances.

At the extraordinary meeting that led to the dissolution of the Latin Union, the Latin American countries expressed their desire to maintain the activity of the organism, but the European countries considered that it was better to dissolve the entity.

The same cultural family

When speaking of the Latin world, reference is usually made to a group of countries of the continent American that have two historical references: the legacy history of Spain and Portugal. However, in a strict sense, Latin is related to Latin. Is language it is the germ from which all the Romance languages ​​that exist today derive.

The cultural heritage generated by these languages ​​is reflected in areas that go beyond the linguistic, since it is related to the expansion of Christianity and the inheritance culture of Ancient Rome.

Although Latin only remains alive as an official language in the Vatican City, it is an essential language to know the Romance languages ​​in their different dimensions (grammar, semantics, etymologies, etc.).

Other international organizations with similar characteristics

The Commonwealth is made up of 53 sovereign nations and they all share the same dimension historical, since in their day they were integrated in the British Empire. From the linguistic point of view, this body has English as its official language.

The International Organization of La Francophonie encompasses all those countries in which the French language has an official character. The axes of this organization are the promotion of the French language and cultural exchanges.

Photos: Fotolia - Marina / AE