The Aberystwyth and Esquel People in Partnership Association (AEPPA) was established in 2008 to promote twinning between Aberystwyth and Esquel, a town established by the Welsh colonists at the base of the Andes in the Chubut Province of Argentina. In 2009 a delegation led by Sue Jones-Davies, the then Mayor of Aberystwyth visited Esquel, where a formal Act of Twinning was signed by Sue and Rafael
Williams, Esquel’s Mayor. At that time, Shan Morgan was the British Ambassador to Argentina and encouraged the twinning since her family hailed from the Aberaeron area, and the delegation were given a warm welcome at the British Residence in Buenos Aires on their way to the Andes to sign the agreement. However, the land in which they arrived was a largely dry wilderness. Through hard work and grim determination they went on to irrigate the land in the Chubut valley and later to colonise Cwm Hyfryd in the foothills of the Andes, where the town of Esquel is located.
