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Students at the University of Havana strike to restore doctoral degrees, 1892

Summary

From mid-March to mid-September 1892, more than three hundred undergraduate students at the Royal University of Havana ran a seven-week strike (extending in practice to six months) against the suspension of doctoral degrees imposed by university president Joaquín Francisco Lastres y Juiz. [source: nv-database] The Foreign Minister’s repeal of the Robledo Decree in September 1892 restored funding, and the university reinstated doctoral degrees. The students’ nonviolent actions were part of the broader independence-era movement led by José Martí and the Revolutionary Movement for National Liberation. [source: nv-database]

Tactics used

Background

In 1892, Cuba was still under Spanish colonial rule, and the Royal University at Havana was the country’s flagship higher-education institution. [source: nv-database] Joaquín Francisco Lastres y Juiz was the university president. The campaign’s other opposing authority was Romero Robledo, the Colonial Secretary of Cuba, who released the Royal Decree (the “Robledo Decree”) cutting government funding for universities. The loss of funds drove salaries down at the university and led to the firing of at least twelve employees. In trying to configure a new budget, Juiz cut doctoral programs, though some faculty continued to offer doctoral classes without authorization. [source: nv-database]

The student action took place within a broader independence-era movement. In 1892, independence leader José Martí had published his newspaper El Periódico Patria to draw attention to what he called “the need to transform the center of higher education.” Students at multiple Cuban universities were already protesting government policies that they saw as privileging the United States over Cuba. [source: nv-database]

What happened

In March 1892, more than three hundred undergraduate students participated in the first student strike in the University of Havana’s history. The strike lasted a total of seven weeks. The students stopped attending classes; Juiz made a speech encouraging students to stop protesting and return, and instructed faculty members to do the same. [source: nv-database]

In response to Juiz’s actions, students expressed their frustration by posting notes about their discontent on the university walls. The campaign used three main tactics: striking, letters of opposition, and these public exhibitions of notes on school walls as acts of nonviolent protest. [source: nv-database]

In September 1892, the Foreign Minister called for the repeal of the Robledo Decree; the Royal University at Havana reinstated doctoral degrees, and the students returned to school after a six-month campaign. [source: nv-database]

Key people & organizations

  • Joaquín Francisco Lastres y Juiz — president of the University of Havana, the campaign’s primary local target [source: nv-database]
  • Romero Robledo — Colonial Secretary of Cuba; author of the funding-cutting decree [source: nv-database]
  • José Martí — independence leader whose newspaper El Periódico Patria informed and inspired the student action [source: nv-database]
  • More than three hundred undergraduate students of the University of Havana [source: nv-database]

Outcome

Verdict: won.

The Robledo Decree was repealed in September 1892, doctoral degrees were reinstated, and the students returned to school. [source: nv-database] The source scores the campaign as a successful outcome on demand achievement.

Lessons

  • A budget cut can become a campaign focal point when it visibly degrades a service that a definable constituency (here, doctoral students and their faculty) depends on.
  • Posting notes on campus walls is a low-cost, hard-to-suppress tactic that works well in eras before mass electronic communications [source: nv-database]
  • A university president can exhort students to return, but cannot order them back into class; student-strike leverage is structurally high because the target institution depends on the striking constituency.

Sources

Disclaimer: Included as a teaching example of campaign craft, not as endorsement.

Sources & verification

  • nv-database — grounding: primary — license: link-only / all-rights-reserved (ND-style; content paraphrased, not quoted)
  • Verified: 2026-07-04 by human

Last verified: 2026-07-09