Government demands University of Cuenca fire professor who participated in anti-Noboa protest

Education Minister Gilda Alcíva is insisting that the University of Cuenca fire a professor who joined a student protest October 7 during a visit by President Daniel Noboa. According to a university administrator, the government is also considering cancelling the residency visa of Education Professor Santiago Rosano.

University of Cuenca Professor Santiago Rosano

A native of Spain, Rosano has held a permanent residency visa in Ecuador for 10 years.

“Our higher education system cannot allow space for people who harm our young people,” Alcívar wrote on her X account. She asked that university authorities take “immediate disciplinary action” and terminate the professor.

Rosano participated in a protest sponsored by the Federation of University Students of Ecuador (FEUE) during Noboa’s visit to the university to announce construction of new residence hall. Protesters shouted slogans and carried signs demanding increased funding for education and health care and blaming the president for Ecuador’s energy crisis.

According to a University of Cuenca administrator who asked that her name not be used, the Education Ministry is also asking the university to identify foreign students who participated in the protest.

University of Cuenca students rallied Monday in support of Professor Santiago Rosano

Following the government demand that Rosano be fired, the student collective Autonomous Front of Organized Resistance (FARO) called for rallies in Quito, Guayaquil, Cuenca, Loja, Manta and Portoviejo. “The time has come to express ourselves, not only from phones and laptops, but in the streets,” FARO said in a social media message. “Our freedoms are under attack from this government while our relatives suffer from a failing health care system, rising crime and the threat of power blackouts.”

On Monday, the Federation of Indigenous and Peasant Organizations of Azuay (FOA) added its support for Rosano and University of Cuenca student protesters. FOA President Lauro Sigcha said it was “sad and painful” that the government wants Rosano terminated, adding that the case is reminiscent of the repression of the Rafael Correa presidency.

In a radio interview, Sigcha said the freedom to protest and academic autonomy must be protected. “Clearly, the government wants universities to be silent centers of submission and is attempting to intimidate students and faculty just as they are doing with the news media,” he said. “It is time for Ecuadorians to stand up against the tide of authoritarianism.”

Rosano holds a PhD in Educational Research from the University of Cantabria, Spain, and is the author of two books on early childhood education.