The Government responded to criticism of the cuts in CONICET: “It will not be spent on investigations into Batman's sexual orientation” - Infobae
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El Gobierno respondió las críticas a los recortes en el CONICET: “No se va a gastar en investigaciones sobre la orientación sexual de Batman”
El portavoz presidencial, Manuel Adorni, manifestó la postura del Estado ante el comunicado firmado por un grupo de Premios Nobel, donde manifestaron su preocupación por “el sistema argentino de ciencia y tecnología”
www.infobae.com
March 07, 2024
The presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, expressed the position of the State regarding the statement signed by a group of Nobel Prize winners, where they expressed their concern about “the Argentine system of science and technology.”
Manuel Adorni sobre la situación del Conicet
Manuel Adorni sobre la situación del Conicet
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The presidential spokesperson, Manuel Adorni, today announced the national government's response to the letter signed by 68 Nobel Prize winners , regarding their concern about the elimination of the Ministry of Science and Technology and the dismissal of administrative employees of CONICET . “Science that does not provide a direct benefit to society will not be financed ,” he clarified.
“ The national government expresses its surprise at a letter signed by foreign scientists denouncing a situation of abandonment in CONICET . The national government is committed to science and technology, we will always do it . In fact, the president of the Nation himself is an academic who has dozens of publications, six written books and hundreds of conferences that he has given in Argentina and around the world,” commented Adorni, at the beginning of his usual press conference at Casa Pink.
The document shared on social networks by laureates in Chemistry, Economics, Medicine and Physics, addressed to Milei, to the Chief of Staff, Nicolás Posse; to the president of CONICET, Daniel Salomone; and to the senators and deputies of the Nation, he warns: “We fear that Argentina is giving up its scientists and its science students. We are concerned that the dramatic devaluation of the budgets of CONICET and the National Universities reflects not only a dramatic devaluation of Argentine science, but also a devaluation of the Argentine people and the future of Argentina .
In this sense, the presidential spokesperson added: " The President understands the importance of science, values the findings that allow concrete improvements in society and, in fact, a CONICET is being built that puts its efforts into the development of science." bioeconomics or artificial intelligence applied to medicine. And not one that spends its time on investigations of dubious usefulness, like the one that, for example, addressed Batman's sexual orientation. As a result, despite the fact that in 20 years the number of researchers at Conicet has tripled, Argentina is sixth in the innovation ranking in Latin America , behind Brazil, Chile, Mexico, Colombia and Uruguay.”
68 Nobel Prize winners asked Milei not to reduce investment in science and technology
“This is because it is not going to be financed, it is a decision of the president who has expressed it in the campaign, the science that does not provide a direct benefit to society ,” stated the spokesperson.
Likewise, Adorni made it clear what the president's position, Javier Milei, is on his measures in relation to scientific research. “Never, neither during the campaign, nor when he was a little younger, or now that he is in Rivadavia's chair working every day, did it cross his mind to withdraw support for science and research. But we understand that in a poor country, there are things that cannot continue to be done, and cannot continue to be paid for with public funds , which are contributed by people who have a decent living, but also contributed by this 50% of society that today lives below of the poverty line. There are studies, at least in their titles, that are quite unusual, and when you see them, that level of rarity in the title coincides with the content,” he stated.
“We believe that it is not fair to continue supporting some issues that do not mean that these investigations contribute value to society so that in the future that person who does not have to eat should be better trained or deserve to be given a paved path so that live better, everything that does not contribute to that, the President understands that it should not be subsidized. This has nothing to do with the university budget, which is another issue ,” Adorni added.
And he concluded: “ What we are cutting is all the foam, and everything that contributes nothing , and does nothing more than empty the public coffers, which are already empty, and which is also contributed by a society that cannot take it anymore .”
