Argentina ’s new president has nation’s scientists very, very concerned

The election of libertarian Javier Milei as Argentina’s next president has many of the nation’s scientists fearing for the future. Milei has vowed to slash government spending, close or dramatically restructure Argentina’s main science funding agency, and consider eliminating ministries dedicated to protecting public health and the environment. Milei has also called climate change a “socialist hoax.” “We will be a country without science,” fears Alejandra Capozzo, an immunologist with the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (CONICET) and head of the Applied Veterinary Immunology Laboratory of the National Technological Institute (INTA). "Today is a day of mourning for Argentine nationals working within the national scientific-technological system.” Milei, a bombastic right-wing politician many observers have compared to former Presidents Donald Trump of the United States and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil, defeated Sergio Massa, Argentina’s economy minister, by a 55.7% to 44.3% vote in Sunday’s election. Milei will be sworn into office on 10 December. Voters backed a radical change in Argentina’s leadership after a decade of stagnant economic growth that has left the country deeply in debt to international lenders, with a 40% poverty rate, and inflation that has soared to nearly 150% this year. The election presented voters with “two bad options,” says neuroscientist Joaquín Navajas, director of the neuroscience laboratory...
Source: Science of Aging Knowledge Environment - Category: Geriatrics Source Type: research