Demetrio Santamaría Montezuma, was appointed as interim rector of the Autonomous University of Indigenous Peoples (UAPI), this through Executive Decree No. 59 of November 21, 2022.
The appointment of Santamaría Montezuma is given despite the fact that the UAPI does not yet have a central headquarters, according to the authorities the house for higher education will be in Buâbití or Llano Tugrí, in the Ngäbe Buglé region.
Professor Santamaría Montezuma, who has held positions in different government instances and international organizations, highlighted that the creation of the UAPI has been a desire of several years of the natives and that it will be open to all young people from the nine districts and 70 corregimientos that make up the region and the rest of the country’s sectors.
The UAPI was created by Law 288 of March 10, 2022, as an official higher education center of the Republic of Panama, with the purpose of strengthening the higher education system and generating opportunities for the youth of said sector.
This higher education center constitutes one of the important projects for the fight against poverty, sustainably develops the different communities, the conservation of the environment and the cultural identity of the original citizens.
The Autonomous University of Indigenous Peoples will be autonomous, with legal status and its own assets, with the power to administer, manage and organize its study and research plans and programs, which will begin with four careers: degrees in Health Educators, in Technology and Agricultural Innovation, in Bilingual Intercultural Education, in Historical and Territorial Ethno-tourism.
