Mimicking former President Mauricio Macri, who was a hitman for the IMF when he was Argentina’s President (2015-2019), current Presidential candidate and neoliberal fanatic Javier Milei has vowed that if elected, he will shut down the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation—just as Macri had—and also privatize the National Scientific and Technological Research Council (Conicet). He also intends to privatize education at all levels and replace it with the unworkable voucher system.
Founded in 1958, Conicet is the country’s premier state-run scientific and research organization which not only conducts valuable research but also educates and finances young scientists. It currently employs 30,000 highly qualified scientists whose research spans diverse areas. It has often had to fight for its existence under regimes that took orders from the IMF.
