Over the past 24 hours, virtually every daily in Argentina published the “news” that the Milei government had finally cancelled the large China-Argentina Radio Telescope (CART) project, that has been under construction in the northwestern province of San Juan, and is a joint project of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National University of San Juan (UNSJ), the San Juan provincial government and Argentina’s National Science and Technology Research Commission (CONICET). This magnificent project, which has been under construction since 2015, was scheduled for completion early in 2026. When finished, it will be the largest single dish radio telescope in Latin America with a range of astronomical capabilities not available in existing facilities in Latin America.
The truth, however, is that CART isn’t shut down—at least not yet, despite the wishes of the China-haters in the U.S. Trump administration, who have demanded that Milei cancel it. The government has succeeded in delaying its construction, detaining key pieces of equipment imported from China at the customs office in Buenos Aires, on grounds they reveal “irregularities”; and CONICET, run by a Milei appointee, pulled out of the project altogether. But, according to Jorge Castro, Dean of the School of Physical and Natural Sciences at UNSJ, he has received no official notice from relevant government authorities that the CART has been canceled.
