University students called a national strike over the Science Act, which was approved by MPs

Causa México has called on university students, scholars and academics to a 24-hour national strike next Tuesday, May 2, to protest the approval in fast track From the “Science Act” in the House of Representatives, with which the National Council for Science and Technology (CONASET) disappeared to make way for another body.

The call became a trend on Thursday afternoon and its aim is to spread dissatisfaction of these sectors with the controversial project of the “Fourth Transformation” (4T) government.

“In addition to errors in legal technique, its implementation involves setbacks in scientific development, restrictions on freedom of research, authoritarianism, discrimination, budget cuts, violations of workers’ rights and academic standards,” adds the appeal from Causa México.

‼ ️ National stop in favor of calling ‼ ️

Public and private universities are being called to carry out a 24-hour nationwide strike on May 2.
Let’s sue @tweet Disapproval of the general law of the humanities, sciences, technologies and innovation.

SHARE👇 pic.twitter.com/UbQmIsQ2Ji

– a common cause (causaencomun) April 27, 2023

Therefore, the Senate of the Republic was sued for “failure to approve a law that contradicts the scientific and technological development of Mexico.”

The government’s proposal to replace the existing Science and Technology Act has been called into question because of the manner in which it was approved: with 257 votes in favor, 210 against and without heeding warnings by members of the science union to what they consider to be a central, authoritarian and unconstitutional proposal.

In addition, they contend, the previous agreement to conduct the first seven sessions of the Open Parliament was violated.

And it is that lawmakers from Morena, the Green Party and the Labor Party in the House of Representatives, being in the majority, began to endorse various opinions by fast track without going to committees, including the Science Act, which received 257 votes in favour, 208 against and two abstentions, Therefore, it will be presented to the Senate of the Republic for analysis and discussion in the coming days.

Among some of the negative points the scientific community found in the House-approved opinion was the awarding of scholarships, because although they were “expected to be universal,” the resource would prioritize collaborators who came from public universities.

Another is that the initiative states that the National Defense (Sedena) and Navy (Semar) secretariats will have a say in science and technology policy.

However, Concet, who is in charge of the controversial Maria Elena Alvarez Buela, confirmed in a statement that the institution will not be reduced or disappear, but on the contrary, indicated that it contains multiple mechanisms that promote it and the 26 Public Research Centers (CPI) that coordinates in the state.

“Moreover, this initiative does not foresee in any department the disappearance of the universe, since some voices against the human right to science wanted to distort it in an alarming way in order to instill fear, both in the members of the human and scientific community, of technology, of the beneficiaries with some kind of support From Conacyt, as well as to the staff of this board and the CPIs,” read the statement.

Despite this, Morenista senator and ambitious presidential candidate in 2024, Ricardo Monreal, warned that there would be no quick approval and that all opinions would be analyzed in the committees.