Scientists warn Milei wants to 'deepen' cuts, slash state research

Scientists and academics in Argentina on Friday condemned a resolution by President Javier Milei's government that orders all scientific programmes be assessed and evaluated as part of a cost-cutting drive.

Experts wanted that the Milei administration wants to eliminate research in social and environmental sciences and "deepen  cuts" across the public the sector.

"The new resolution published yesterday [Thursday] can only be understood as a prelude to deepening the cuts," stated a communiqué from the Red de Autoridades de Institutos de Ciencia y Tecnología de Argentina, published on X.

Another joint statement from  federations representing university lecturers and Scientific workers across Latin America warned that the resolution "proposes the elimination of scientific research related to social sciences, the environment, and global warming, among others."

The official resolution, published on Thursday, stipulates that, due to Argentina's "economic emergency," the Science & Technology Secretariat must conduct a "thorough evaluation of all the programmes created" to decide whether they should continue.

The government requests that the evaluation be conducted "verifying its alignment with the Strategic Plan defined for 2024-2025," which proposes the "development of technologies to serve the country's economic growth and strategic development, focusing on agroindustry, energy and mining, the knowledge economy and innovation, and health."

"Programmes whose objectives do not align with the aforementioned Strategic Plan should be terminated," the resolution states.

Biochemist Rodrigo Quiroga, a researcher at the CONICET scientific research institute, shared an excerpt from the resolution on X and declared: "They are eliminating all the scientific programmes in the country, except those within the areas of agroindustry, energy, mining, health, and the knowledge economy."

"Milei's government has just destroyed the Argentine scientific system in one fell swoop," he wrote in a post on social media.

Many Argentine scientists raised their voices last year to denounce drastic budget cuts by the Milei administration, noting the paralysation of scholarship and research programmes as part of the government's "chainsaw" approach to spending cuts. 

 Public spending dropped some 26 percent last year, according to he Asociación Argentina de Presupuesto y Administración Financiera Pública (ASAP) NGO.

– TIMES/AFP