In case you haven’t heard of it at all, thousands of paraguayan university students have led demonstrations for the past week demanding quality education and an end to corruption.

Claims of influence trafficking, nepotism, corruption and destruction of evidence and a whole network of accomplices have tainted the legacy of Chancellor Froilan Peralta. Froilan is now the former head of the National University of Asuncion UNA, thanks to the pressure created by the student movement. After a long, hollywood-esque stand-off between Froilan and the students he finally gave in, clearing the way for his Vicechancellor and at least two Heads of Schools (Economy and Engineering) to also resign. There is quite a tangible feeling of more resignations to come as documents evidencing corrupt practices continue to appear and pressure continues from the student movement.

Aerial view of the students demostrating in front of the rectorate of the UNA, the National University of Asuncion. Photo: Uknown, published by Édgar Rodriguez

These corrupt practices seemed up until a normalized component of everyday life in paraguayan society. It is, in and of itself, a sample of a much larger legacy from the not-so-distant military dictatorship; Stroessner’s dictatorship imposed inflexible, verticalist and authoritarian institutional models within which corruption run rampant.

This authoritarian and corrupt model is one that the UNA and many other public institutions strive to maintain after more than 25 years of democracy. To challenge the structure of the UNA is to alter the very fabric of Paraguay’s politics.

In order to better understand how this movement came to be, I recommend you go over this comprehensive piece by Eliana Ugarte which summarizes the events that led to the rise of the movement. Furthermore this article by local newspaper La Nacion would be a good addition to the information provided by Ms. Ugarte. While some of the comments suggested it needed a bit of polishing — and it could certainly use a tweak or two both in style and content, — I find it plenty good as a starting point.

I also recommend you to complete your quick introduction (?) to the topic by reading these pieces by France 24 and The Argentina Independent, which are more focused on the first days of the demonstrations but still contain valuable information (such as the specific demands of the movement). I also found this Op-Ed piece by Peter Tase which contains a narrative of the events in chronogical order. There is also a piece published by Celina Recalde on a WordPress blog, but this one is a rather brief read. Last but not least, I would also recommend all of you take a look at this outstanding timeline created by the @PYnotecalles Digital Team, which is only available in Spanish for now.

Students lead demonstrations in front of UNA’s rectorate. Photo: PY no te calles

There is an expression in guarani — an indigenous language spoken by over tree quarters of paraguayan population — that can accurately describe my feelings in the wake of last week’s events: chemopirî. This translates roughly as “goosebumps” but is much, so much more than that; it is a feeling so intense that your skin oozes with excitement.

It is pure joy. It is hope.

The reason for this feeling is that the paraguayan university students’ movement has organized itself to stand up for their rights and in doing so, it has shaken and continues to shake the old, corrupted structure of the UNA from its foundations, imprinting itself in Paraguayan history. The students are movilizing by the thousands and have garnered an unprecedent amount of support social media with the hashtags #UNAnotecalles and #PYnotecalles, which stand for “UNA, don’t be quiet” and “Paraguay, don’t be quiet”

World famous classical guitarist paraguayan Berta Rojas shows her support for the movement on her official Twitter account