In defense of CIESPAL
Mr. Guillermo Lasso
President of the Republic of Ecuador
Researchers in the social sciences, who make up the member centers of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences – CLACSO in Ecuador, after learning of the restrictions and reductions in funding to which the International Center for Higher Studies in Communication for Latin America – CIESPALWe subscribe to this letter with concern because the reduction of resources could lead to its closure.
CIESPAL was founded in the late 50s and has since become one of the country's most important institutions for training communicators, journalists, and researchers; a meeting point and reference for communicators throughout the region. Its Latin American Journal of Communication, Chasqui, published since 1972, is one of the most important journals and repositories for the study of communication, research, and critical thinking across the region. Through forums, seminars, and conferences, CIESPAL serves as a space for collaboration and debate at the Latin American level; its contribution to the democratization of society through objective and critical communication is invaluable and widely recognized in this field.
Given the importance and significance of CIESPAL for Ecuador and the Region, the CLACSO member centers in Ecuador request that your government take the necessary steps to strengthen the work of universities, as well as postgraduate and research centers; in this particular case, as of November 2021, we are concerned about the lack of action and commitment to fulfill the obligations acquired by the Ecuadorian State in favor of CIESPAL more than sixty years ago.
This is a commitment of the Ecuadorian State to education and postgraduate institutions; we are talking about the workers, the communicators, and the social researchers who sustain the institution and have been without pay for more than six months; we are also talking about the need to strengthen and expand training spaces for communication and critical journalism, which is essential to reinforce democracy in the country.
Therefore, we ask that you comply with the State's commitments to communication, journalism, and democracy.
Sincerely,
Member centers and researchers affiliated with the Latin American Council of Social Sciences, CLACSO in Ecuador.
Stalin Herrera – Institute of Ecuadorian Studies
Darío Cepeda – Director of the System of Research on Agrarian Problems in Ecuador – SIPAE
Andrés Mideros – Dean of the Faculty of Economics – PUCE
Cecilia Cherrez – Institute of Third World Ecological Studies
Valeria Coronel – Principal Professor-Researcher – FLACSO Ecuador
Luis Herrera Montero – Working Group on Territorialities, Spiritualities and Bodies of CLACSO / University of Cuenca
Isabel Ramos – Coordinator of the Working Group “Political Economy of Information, Communication and Culture”
Anahí Macaroff Lencina – CLACSO Working Group “Business Elites, State and Domination”
Carmen Gómez Martín – Research Professor, FLACSO-Ecuador / South-South Migration Working Group, CLACSO
René Unda L. – CINAJ-UPS Ecuador / GT Youth and Childhoods, CLACSO
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