Portrait of Gustavo Cosse

Abstract

In August 2018 we received the sad news that Gustavo Cosse had died in his “little countryâ€, Uruguay, where despite the fact that he was physically absent for many years, he never ceased to be emotionally and intellectually connected. They have asked me for a profile of his long career, which covered various issues linked to the political, intellectual and institutional contexts in the countries where he lived.
I shared with Gustavo studies and academic production intensively in Quito, Ecuador, and in Buenos Aires, linked to agrarian problems, and therefore these notes will have a bias towards those periods. A more comprehensive and / or precise vision will surely be completed by those who worked with him in different circumstances.
As part of the generation of Latin Americans who participated in the processes of university and political militancy that led us to confront dictatorial governments, and in many cases led us to exile, to know the contextual circumstances and the difficult conditions of personal reproduction in labor matters, They allow us to understand intellectual paths that do not necessarily derive from vocations associated with academic careers developed under "normal" conditions (...)