The young people demanded the dismissal of José Antonio Romero Tellaeche, who first took office as interim director of CIDE last August and then assumed the final position in November, for being considered close to the government of Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
They also called for the resignation of María Elena Álvarez-Buylla, director of the National Council for Science and Technology (Conacyt), a public body that has faced accusations of benefiting academics aligned with the thinking of the current government and silencing critics.
“Álvarez-Buylla, science is not yours,” protesters exclaimed in front of the Palace of Fine Arts, where they also carried banners that read: “AMLO, don’t be an accomplice of Conacyt” and “Dignified education and free science.”
The university students also shouted “a plagiarist will not be my director” in reference to the complaints that emerged this week against Romero Tellaeche, accused of plagiarizing an academic text.
The “I defend CIDE” movement has intensified since last August, when director Sergio López Ayllón resigned due to a lack of understanding with Conacyt.
Since then, the new management dismissed academics in managerial positions with arguments such as “loss of confidence” and “acts of rebellion”.
