President Javier Milei: education and research slashing targets

In the wake of his shock election victory in December, a video of new Argentinian president Javier Milei tearing the names of government departments off a whiteboard went viral on TikTok.

It shows the right-winger — sporting a distinctive pair of huge sideburns — shouting “afuera” (get out) to ten of the country’s 18 ministries. The tally included the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation — which, he tells the camera, belongs in the private sector — plus the Ministry of Education “and indoctrination”, quips Milei.

The rapid rise of the chaotic, chainsaw-wielding libertarian politician in a country racked by economic uncertainty has stunned Argentina’s research community, with many fearing President Milei’s plans to dramatically slash public spending will decimate its universities and scientific infrastructure. On the campaign trail, Milei promised not only to close the science ministry, but also to shut or privatise the National Scientific and Technical Research Council (Conicet), one of Latin America’s most important science funders, and cut state funding for research and education to bare bones.

“What he is proposing is very close to a dismantlement of the whole system, and it will be very hard to recover if that happens,” says Diego Golombek, a biology professor at the National University of Quilmes and a researcher at Conicet, who is “extremely worried” about the new regime. “We have a good science system: it needs more budget, it needs to go more federal and help regional economies, but it is there and it has worked well for many decades, so any kind of strong measures against it will be suicidal and it will be very difficult to build it again,” adds Golombek.

Alberto Kornblihtt, a molecular biologist at the University of Buenos Aires, likens Milei’s agenda to the right-wing economic and political programme of the military dictatorships that ruled the country between 1976-1983, but this time with “massive popular support” and a democratic mandate, something that is “not good news” for science, universities, public health and education. “If he keeps his promises, not only will the budget cuts for research be huge, but also institutions like Conicet risk being dismantled, with the obvious consequence of brain drain,” he warns.

The directors of Conicet’s 16 science and technology research centres — which fund about 12,000 researchers — spoke out against plans to close the organisation before the election, warning in a joint statement: “We still have many challenges, many issues to improve, but it is not by cancelling the state that a better country will be achieved.”

President Milei has been less clear about his plans for the wider higher education system, but the national government’s control of universities’ finances makes them vulnerable. He has proposed a plan for schools that involves taking public money and giving it to families as “educational vouchers” that they can decide how to spend, and a similar system might be considered for the country’s currently free public universities.

Gerardo Burton, an emeritus professor of chemistry at the University of Buenos Aires, says it is still uncertain whether Milei will go ahead with some of his more radical policies because his proposals had been “changing and moderating as his possibility of winning the election increased”. He will formally take up the role on December 10.