The drama experienced by the Antonio Neumane National Conservatory of Music is not only for students and teachers, but also for the entire community. It should be noted that this situation is not since today, nor since 2014, when a fire broke out in his old buildings in Hurtado and Mascote Streets, in Guayaquil, which forced everyone to migrate to other places. It took almost forever because, being a state, funding and guidance must come from the Ministry of Education in Quito.

Now, with the increase in student demand and the passage of time, the building has collapsed, it is impossible to live in it, the instruments are in ruins – not counting those that have disappeared – and students attend classes in makeshift classrooms on other campuses, where the sounds of pianos, guitars, violins they intertwine, the Neumane drama worsens day by day, without the government’s offers coming to fruition.

It is unacceptable that the most populous city in Ecuador, with 2,698,077 inhabitants, has only one public music conservatory, and there should be at least one per neighborhood, where children and young people can have the opportunity to develop their skills and abilities.

It is truly absurd to think that in Guayaquil only a small number of people are capable of embracing a musical career. And to deprive that small universe of the possibility to form in that branch is even more inconceivable. This only shows the little interest the governments of the time had in the cultural development of the country. We must realize that the more we shape the spirit through the cultivation of arts and sports, the less crime and violence we will have. Prisons close when schools multiply.

Artists – famous here and abroad – came out of the heart of Neumane with extraordinary training, taught by musicians, many of them foreigners, who dedicated their lives to the noble task of teaching.

Today, from the ruins, teachers, students and the social conglomerate of Guayaquil, affected by the indifference and indifference with which this drama was treated, seek help and justice for the Neumans.

The Constitution, Cootad and the Organic Law on Intercultural Education, among others, allow the first municipal authorities to claim administrative jurisdiction for the Philharmonic and the Arts Education Unit to take over campus management.

In addition, it is urgently necessary to start the construction of a new building, with the projection of the future growth of the city, which enables the largest possible number of students to be educated; that the current student body be relocated so that they can hold classes in suitable places, that an inventory of the furniture be carried out and an assessment of its condition in order to replace what is missing and repair, as soon as possible, those that have deteriorated; and that the public be informed of the progress of these legitimate and just aspirations.

We believe that the mayor of Guayaquil will act in this sense and end the drama of Neumana, which belongs to everyone. (OR)