Tránsito Amaguaña

Rosa Elena Tránsito Amaguaña Alba was born on the Pesillo hacienda on September 10, 1909, to debt-bonded indigenous laborers. Working as a laborer without wages from age seven, she experienced the full brutality of the huasipungo feudal system.

Alongside Dolores Cacuango, Amaguaña organized the historic 1931 agricultural strike in Olmedo, walking for twenty-six hours to Quito to demand fair wages and eight-hour workdays. Imprisoned under false accusations of treason, she persevered, founding indigenous agricultural cooperatives and winning the Eugenio Espejo National Prize in 2003.