March 7, 2024 (EIRNS)—Sixty-eight Nobel Laureates from around the world have written an Open Letter to Argentine President Javier Milei urging him to cease his vicious attack on his nation’s state-funded science personnel, institutions, and infrastructure, and to step back from “the dangerous precipice” on which he has placed Argentina’s science and technology. Aside from Milei, the letter was addressed to his Chief of Staff Nicolas Posse; to Dr. Daniel Salamone, president of the state-run National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET); and to all federal Senators and Congressmen.
Except for one laureate in economics, 67 of the Nobel Laureates listed were awarded for their work in chemistry, medicine, and physics. Alarmed at “anarcho-capitalist” Milei’s wild budget-slashing spree, and his elimination of the Science and Technology Ministry, the laureates fear that “the dramatic devaluation of the budgets for CONICET”—the country’s premier science and technology institution, which carries out valuable research and educates young scientists—"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.”
