Review of the book “Against Ideological Discrimination in Cuban Universities: Memoirs of a Citizen Protest on the Web.”

Abstract

The expulsion of professor Omara Ruiz Urquiola for ideological reasons sparked a wave of support from various Cuban and foreign academics, garnering the backing of more than 30,000 people. However, this incident also revealed the support of Ministry of Education officials for the ideological segregation policy that governs the island's educational institutions.

The book compiled by Gallego not only sheds light on what happened in the Ruiz Urquiola case, but also documents similar cases of teachers and students expelled from educational institutions for political reasons. Through the recording of these events, the document seeks to build consensus around the importance of human rights, freedom of thought, and academic freedom within Cuban universities—an issue that has so far gone largely unnoticed in the international academic research agenda.