Tránsito Amaguaña was an Ecuadorian leader who stood out for her struggles in favor of the rights of the indigenous peoples of her country. She was born on September 10, 1909 in the community of Pesillo, in the parish of Olmedo, belonging to the Cayanbe canton of the province of Pichincha.
Rosa Elena Amaguaña Alba was baptized, but later she became known as Tránsito Amaguaña. She dedicated her entire life to fighting for the demands of the indigenous people through the indigenous movement that developed between the 1920s and 1970s in Ecuador.
She was a humble and persistent woman who became a symbol of resistance and struggle for the indigenous peoples of Ecuador. Amaguaña belonged to the Ecuadorian communist party and until her death she identified with socialist thought.
Ideologically he was formed in Cuba and in the former Soviet Union, where he traveled on various occasions. His tireless struggle for the achievement of education and rights to land and water earned him great national and international recognition. A bilingual school in Quito and another in Guayaquil bear his name.
Biography
The parents of Tránsito Amaguaña were two indigenous Huasipungueros, Venancio Amaguaña and Mercedes Alba. She grew up with her parents on a farm in Pesillo, where they worked under very precarious conditions. Due to their social condition and indigenous extraction, they were exploited and severely punished by the landowners.
It was formed in an environment dominated by social conflict and semi-slave labor. Her negotarism and vocation for social struggle came from her mother, who was an activist in the indigenous movement.
His father Venancio was once harshly punished for missing work, while his aunt was hanged for the death of a calf.
At the age of nine, she tried to study to learn to read and write at a local school, forced by her mother. This happened after the promulgation of the Law on property schools during the government of Eloy Alfaro Delgado. However, she could not achieve it during her childhood and youth due to the prevailing social conditions.
He attended school for a mere six months, after which he had to withdraw; therefore, he hardly learned a few letters. His education and training were later received in Cuba, where he traveled with the help of the Ecuadorian communist party.
She then began working as a domestic servant on the farm where she lived. She married at the age of fourteen, but her marriage was short lived due to her husband's indifference to the indigenous struggle and to his character. She had four sons and, after the separation, she went to live with her mother.
First struggles and political activity
When she was just a teenager, she began her activism participating in countless marches and protests in Quito, where she joined the Ecuadorian Socialist Party. She remained within their ranks until the moment of her death.
Together with several socialist leaders, Amaguaña founded the first agricultural unions in Ecuador in 1924; These include El Inca (Pesillo), Tierra libre (Muyurco) and Pan y tierra (La Chimba).
He was also related to the first indigenous movements in the country. At that time he met Dolores Cacuango, another indigenous activist with whom he maintained the fight.
Along with his indigenous struggles, he actively participated in the meetings of the incipient Communist Party of Ecuador. This is how in 1931 he led the first strike of agricultural workers, which took place in Olmedo in 1931.
This time it was in demand for a salary increase, the establishment of 8-hour work days with rest on Sundays, the suppression of tithes and huasicamas (a term applied to the indigenous people who performed demanding tasks in a home).
After protests that lasted several months, Amaguaña was imprisoned in Quito, but was later released with the help of María Luisa Gómez de la Torre.
During his long career as an activist, Tránsito Amagaña led 26 mobilizations in Quito to demand demands for the indigenous people. Likewise, she marched 25 times from Olmedo to Quito.
Death
The work on behalf of the indigenous people carried out by Amaguaña throughout his life was widely recognized within and outside of Ecuador. At the age of 91, she was awarded in Cayambe for her work in favor of native communities.
He said on that occasion that the multiple protest marches to Quito and the strength and courage of his struggle were learned from his ally and lifelong companion, Dolores Cacuango. In 2003, on the occasion of becoming a recipient of the Eugenio Espejo Award, she received a monthly pension.
Tránsito Amaguaña died at the age of 99 at his home located in La Chimba, Cayambe, on May 10, 2009. His funeral was attended by the highest authorities of Ecuador, including the Vice President of Ecuador, Lenín Moreno Garcés.
Achievements
The life of Mamá Tránsito, as she was affectionately called in recent years, was dedicated to indigenous social activism. Among her main achievements with the movement she led, the following stand out:
- The approval of the labor code in 1936 and, a year later, the approval of the Communes Law. Both legal instruments regulated agricultural work and labor relations between peons and bosses. The defense of the ownership of communal lands was also established.
- Organized indigenous bilingual schools (in Quechua and Spanish) together with Dolores Cacuango and teacher Luisa Gómez de la Torre, who administered these educational centers. However, they were not recognized by the government at the time.
- Obtained official recognition from the indigenous peasant organizations and the Federation of Indigenous People of Ecuador in 1944 after the support provided by indigenous leaders to President José María Velasco Ibarra for his return to power.
- Support for the foundation of the Ecuadorian Federation of Agricultural Workers of the Litoral in 1954.
- She was an international representative of the indigenous people of Ecuador during the Congresses held in the Soviet Union and Cuba in 1962. Upon her return to the country, she was again arrested on charges of conspiracy and illegal trafficking of weapons of war and money. However, she refused to give up the social struggle, and some time later she was released.
- For her long activism in defense of the rights of indigenous peoples, she was awarded the Manuela Espejo Prize of Quito (1997), and in 2003 she obtained the Eugenio Espejo National Prize for Culture.
- Despite having fought throughout his life for the agrarian reform of Ecuador, he never benefited from the distribution of land. He lived humbly on a small plot that President Galo Plaza Lasso gave him.
References
- Birth of Tránsito Amaguaña. Life, death, achievements. Accessed May 3p0 from cotopaxi.gob.ec
- The woman who fought for the peasants. Consulted of eltelegrafo.com.ec
- Amaguaña Transit. Consulted of biografiasyvidas.com
- Amaguaña Transit, Ecuadorian indigenous leader. Consulted of elpais.com
- Amaguaña Transit. Consulted of ecured.cu
- Amaguaña Transit. Consulted of es.wikipedia.org