Carmen Souza few times, once on a family trip when she was ten and again as an adult in 2010, she grew up speaking Creole and eating Cape Verdean cuisine. While still a child, she began singing gospel music in the church choir. Her parents maintained close ties with the diaspora, and Souza's childhood was filled with the music and culture of Cape Verde, along with that of the former Portuguese colonies of Angola, Brazil, Mozambique and São Tomé. Souza's father, Antonio, a merchant sailor, insisted she should learn English and German. After spending just one year at college, she left to
Brazilians in Uruguay disputed between the Spanish and Portuguese empires, a good portion of the territory of modern Uruguay changed hands several times. And, shortly before Uruguay was born as an independent nation, it was annexed to Brazil with the name of Cisplatine Province. Last, but not least, slavery was early abolished in Uruguay but persisted in Brazil for decades to come, so many Afro-Brazilian slaves escaped to Uruguay. The 2011 Uruguayan census revealed 12,882 people who declared Brazil as their country of birth. As of 2013, there are over 1,600 Brazilian workers registered in the Uruguayan social security. Well-off Brazilians are increasingly