MEXICO: The 4th Transformation is formed from the symbols. Whether it’s the president who travels by commercial plane or the rejection of civil society organizations by the federal executive, which materializes on issues such as the preference of granting resources directly to parents instead of maintaining the same amount of money. direct support to children’s rooms. The reason for this last? A symbol and the anecdote: some are corrupt and inflate numbers [said AMLO]. They all lose equally. And the minors, who do not vote.
In this same logic is the situation of Conacyt in opulant days, because as we published last Sunday, the director María Elena Álvarez-Buylla is on a kind of press tour where it is understandable that only two months after taking office There is something to brag about but her media agenda is based on disqualifying her predecessor (Enrique Cabrero) for alleged excesses and opulence (she even used the word elite ) and the previous regime, which on more than one occasion she has called neoliberal . It goes against the symbols.
Leaving aside the small controversy for the credential of his deputy director of social communication. Álvarez-Buylla was now the tweeter because of unfortunate statements in an interview with Ana Francisca Vega (published not in a newspaper format of El Universal, but in his usual column9, which he is sure right now regrets.
There are clues to give this judgment. The thing is like this: Hours after the talk of the journalist and the official, the communication manager who was present at the session sent a message to Vega to indicate that there will be new calls for Conacyt scholarships abroad. The urgency was for this phrase, which not for clarification ceased to be exploited by experts in social networks El Universal:
“There are scholars who could be forming better here and making the public treasury much less”
Next to this other one.
“We are deciding, in fact, if there will be a new call for scholarships abroad”
The rest of the talk, which being fair has good points for analysis or debate, is overshadowed by that moment that terrorizes a small but vocal part of the Mexican academy. The issue, of course, is not black and white as there are arguments for and against the expense of sending hundreds of young Mexicans abroad to study. Of that we wrote some time ago, with a not so subtle criticism to the academic turmoil and it is enough to google ‘ conacyt scholarship’ to see a handful of blogs that talk about the subject as if it were going on a pleasure trip.
At the end of the text by Ana Francisca Vega, the scientist makes it clear that she is against intermediaries and their financing and is consistent with the centralist vision of the 4T in terms of resource control. As for how he sees the future of the institution in Mexico, he mentioned common places such as “Scandinavian countries” or a newspaper that was never specific in the history of Brazil. All in search of his recurring phrase, the “scientific sovereignty”, with which it turns to the subject of scholarships since she considers that with Mexican money young professionals are trained who are rather taken advantage of abroad. Its logic is that of a kind of personal sacrifice for the collective good of the nation.
Another gem is the (once again) symbolism of the location of her office on a high floor (the 7th) and the plans, in the future and without a specific date, to get off. Another issue is that she personally gets involved in the design of the institution’s menu:
The general director of Conacyt, María Elena Álvarez-Buylla, is personally making the menus that, she hopes, will be served soon in the new restaurant “Las Milpas” that will give service to the workers of the Council. “I like cooking a lot,” he says from what is still his office on the 7th floor of the building that the institution rents.
Function of Conacyt in Mexico
Conacyt
National Council for Science and Technology
The National Council of Science and Technology is a decentralized public body of the Federal Public Administration, coordinator of the Science and Technology Sector. As head of the sector, it can promote and manage research and scientific and technological development in the country.
Scholarships and Postgraduate
The National Council of Science and Technology formulates and finances scholarship programs and, in general, provides support for the training of researchers and scientists in its diverse modalities, as well as integrates the information of the scholarship programs offered by other national institutions, international governments and foreign governments, in order to optimize resources in this area and establish coordination schemes, in the terms of the calls that are issued for this purpose.
In addition, policies are established to implement the programs that promote the promotion, training, development and linking of high-level professionals in the country, meeting local and regional priorities through the instruments established in the Law on Science and Technology.
The Conacyt has the most important Scholarship Program for Postgraduate Studies in Mexico, with more than 45 years of existence; is known and recognized nationally and internationally, this program provides access to the population to perform high level studies in academic institutions of excellence, both at home and abroad. Through the different modalities of the Program, scholarships are granted to carry out postgraduate studies at the masters, doctorate and postdoctoral levels, in addition to supporting various technical and academic specialties.
In addition, its mission is to promote continuous improvement and quality assurance of the national postgraduate program, which supports the increase of the country’s scientific, technological, social and humanistic capabilities.
Source: Tercera Via, Conacyt
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