As part of the resistance actions against the appointment of José Antonio Romero Tellaeche as general director of the Center for Economic Research and Teaching (CIDE), dozens of students and academics – accompanied by family and friends – marched on Insurgentes Sur towards the headquarters of the National Council of Science and Technology (Conacyt).
Conacyt realize, CIDE is at the door!
The protest arrives at the premises of the @Conacyt_MX.
📹 @Dalila_Sarabia pic.twitter.com/V2MCfzv7xv
— Animal Político (@Pajaropolitico) December 4, 2021
Last Thursday, and after the director of Conacyt, María Elena Álvarez-Buylla, snubbed the dialogue table to which she was summoned by the faculty of the research center, the call was launched to march towards her office to reiterate the rejection of her decision to appoint Romero Tellaeche as general director of CIDE.
The contingent was headed by Jean Meyer, professor emeritus of CIDE’s history division.
“More science, less obedience”, “Romero, understand, the CIDE does not want you”, “They did not elect you, they imposed you”, “The CIDE is first, get Romero out”, “I defend the CIDE, do not politicize us”, “Why do they politicize us if we are the future of America”, are some of the slogans they shouted from the Sunken Park before arriving at the Conacyt facilities.
The mobilization was carried out peacefully and upon arrival at Conacyt the demonstrators launched a series of slogans before sharing their petition.
Read: Conacyt appointed CIDE director without a vote and ignoring academics and students
The lawsuits
The student community requests the immediate removal of José Antonio Romero Tellaeche as general director of CIDE and with it a new process to elect a substitute, not reprisals for exercising his right to demonstrate, and the formation of a Student Assembly that participates in the administrative processes and in the decision-making of the research center.
The professors, formed in the Permanent Academic Assembly, ask for direct dialogue with the Ministry of the Interior, adherence to the right of the community in charge of directing scientific policy and to stop the harassment of the 31 researchers reported to the Attorney General’s Office.
The CIDE academic staff union requests that the disqualifications and intimidations cease, respecting the conditions of the collective bargaining agreement; and respect for the Statute of the CIDE, the freedoms of research, chair and expression.
The facts
On November 29, in an extraordinary session of the CIDE Board of Directors and in which it was not put to a vote, Álvarez-Buylla appointed José Antonio Romero Tellaeche as general director of CIDE.
The decision that was made without listening to the voice of the students and in which the internal auscultation that revealed less teaching support for the economist was also ignored, caused the anger and annoyance of the students who peacefully took over the facilities of the CIDE Santa Fe.
Since that day, both teachers and students have summoned the director of Conacyt and Romero Tellaeche a dialogue table, however, their calls have been ignored.
On Thursday night, on the eve of the march, Romero Tellaeche appeared at the facilities of CIDE Santa Fe where he intended to deliver to the security of the campus a list with the names of the workers and students active in the institution so that outside that list people outside the research center were not allowed to enter.
The students who keep the facilities taken refused to receive these lists and asked him to sign a letter of non-retaliation against the student community, however, the general director refused and conditioned the dialogue on the delivery of the facilities.
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