Requirements to be "Hispanic"?

He qualifies to be Hispanic, he was born in a country that was colonized by Spain, so he is Hispanic.

Many, if not most, of the people in Argentina and Uruguay are of Italian extraction. (Many Germans too!) As Hispanic is not a racial category, but rather an ethnic and/or cultural designation based on language and customs, he may qualify. The fact that he was born here and his folks in Italy would cast doubt on it, in my opinion, however. I Know a man who is an official here in DC at the Argentine Embassy. He describes Argentinians as "Italians who speak Spanish."

Now, back in the '70s, there was some controversy here in DC, regarding the awarding of "minority" contracts to Hispanics. The locals had noticed that many applicants were from Argentina, Spain and the like. If i'm not mistaken, there was an attempt to redifine Hispanic here for that purpose because they didn't want to be awarding contracts to white people! Not sure if it passed or what the current status of that is. Yes, Argentina, Uruguay and much of Chile are very European indeed. (People from Spain are, in fact, largely Celtic!) In my opinion, the only true Latins are Italians!

I do think that you have to be born and raised in a Spanish-speaking country or be descended from family who was, to be considered truly Hispanic.

well if both parents were born in Italy then he is itailian. He may have citizenship in a country because his parents moved there but if he wants to go by background, he is still italian by blood. If he is an American citizen and trying to gain a college money based on his background, he could get away with saying he is hispanic based on his old ciizenship if he wanted to con his way into the college money.

I was born in America one of my grandparents were born in Luthiuania the other in the US. I am American and can claim that as a background, but I was still born in this country so therefore I am American.

Maybe I'm mistaken, but the criteria the goverment follows is the proyection of the person. His parents are italians, and since he never lived in Argentina, the only cultural influences he might had were italian and american ones. If he lived and proyected himself as a hispanic (though the term latinamerican is more appropiated) then he might have a chance. And that's not the case, since the knowledge of a language doesn't turn you into something you're not. Regarding your last sentence. If your parents behave as cubans and you grow in a cuban enviroment, and you proyect yourself as a cuban, then you may be colled hispanic. Now, if your parents adopt the so called american way of life, and you grow in an all american culture, there's Cuba in you as there's is China in me, nothing. I'm cuban, since my culture is pure Cuba, and I can't claim to be spaniard, though my 8 grandfathers came from spain.

Just because a person speaks a different language doens't mean they are of that nationality. Your friend should be proud of who he is.