Two months after assuming the leadership of Conacyt, a petition on Change.org, signed by recognized experts, already called for the dismissal of Álvarez-Buylla for “mismanagement” and “favoritism.” This, after the senator from Morena presented the initiative of the Law of Humanities, Sciences and Technologies and proposed new powers for Conacyt, such as the power to cancel any public or private investigation without mediating with consultation bodies. In the end, Álvarez-Buylla had to promise that she would respect academic freedom at Conacyt.
Under his direction, academics and students have protested against Conacyt for several reasons: reduction in the number of postgraduate scholarships awarded, for canceling resources to the Consultative, Scientific and Technological Forum (FCCyT) and for the dismissal of recognized researchers from the National System of Researchers like Antonio Lazcano. While Beatriz Gutiérrez, writer and wife of López Obrador, and Gertz Manero, attorney general of the Republic, were accepted in that same body.
resistance to appear
Álvarez Buylla’s appointment will take place after last Thursday opposition legislators questioned his 10-month resistance to meeting with Congress and the dismantling of the pro-science policy in the country.
In 2021 Sergio López Ayllón resigned from the direction of the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE) and José Antonio Romero Tellaeche was appointed interim director, who days later dismissed two academics from this house of studies for “acts of rebellion”.
The CIDE community accused Romero Tellaeche of authoritarianism and workplace harassment, and demanded his dismissal. The students protested, marched, took over the CIDE facilities and even promoted legal protections, but this did not prevent them from ratifying Romero Tellaeche in office.
The Science and Technology Commission of the Senate of the Republic called Álvarez-Buylla to appear before legislators for this problem, for the criminal complaints filed against scientists, and for the mechanical fans that Conacyt promised since 2020 to deal with the covid-19 pandemic. 19, but they were not ready, just like the vaccine against that virus called Patria, which was announced as a Mexican development and still hasn’t come to fruition.
However, the academic did not attend the hearing. Despite warrants, Álvarez-Buylla appeared up to 10 months later.
Just last week, he held a conference meeting with the Science Commissions of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies, a framework in which he defended the disappearance of the trusts related to Conacyt, since in his opinion they were unused resources that should have another destiny.
He acknowledged that 25.741 million pesos were returned to the Federal Treasury (Tesofe) to reinvest in “real needs” and meet spending priorities, that is, priority projects, such as the mega-projects of the government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador.
Despite the opposition’s questioning, the official defended her passage through Conacyt, where she anticipated that she would leave a “dignified, clear legacy, supported by rigorous data” against “neoliberal science” and “technoscience.”
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With information from Carina Garcia…
