Science is dying in Venezuela, and COVID-19 is making it worst

By Isaac Nahón-Serfaty /inahonse@uottawa.ca

If you want to understand how science dies in front of your eyes, you should only take a look to the south of the Americas. Venezuela is now the best example of how a dangerous mix of populism, authoritarianism, crime, corruption and ignorance could end with the foundations of reason and scientific enquiry. The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated a process that began 20 years ago, when the so-called “Bolivarian revolution” took power and started to dismantle the institutions of an imperfect but more or less functioning democracy, including the system of autonomous public funded universities and research institutes. Before the arrival to power of the deceased Hugo Chávez in 1999, Venezuela built a science capability and infrastructure based on a slow but steady progression in educating scholars and researchers, both internally and externally (particularly with the help of the scholarships program Gran Mariscal de Ayacucho launched in 1975), the strengthening of world recognized centres such as the Instituto Venezolano de Investigaciones Científicas, Intevep (consecrated to research and innovation in the oil and energy fields) or the Instituto de Medicina Tropical (with important contributions to the fight and control of infectious diseases), and the implementation of policies linking science and development through the CONICIT, the national council of science and technology. A report in Spanish by the Observatorio de Derechos Humanos from the Universidad de Los Andes (ULA) and EPIKEIA entitled The decline of research in Venezuela. Covid-19 and the complex humanitarian crisis points that “The State policies against universities during the governments of Hugo Chávez (1999-2013) and Nicolás Maduro (2013- ) could be summarized in six areas: a. The progressive implementation of rules to undermine their autonomy; b. The construction of a parallel university system with no quality standards focused on proselytism and ideologization; c. The use of the judiciary to intervene and control the universities; d. The criminalization and persecution of students and professors because of political reasons and, e. The suffocation (of universities) through budgetary cuts.” Depending on the calculations, Venezuela has lost between 30% to 60% of its researchers and university professors, in a brain drainage of qualified scholars looking for better opportunities in other countries. Some programs are having problems offering courses because of the lack of professors. In a recent online seminar organized by Observatorio de Derechos Humanos from ULA, the former President of the Venezuelan Academia de Ciencias Físicas, Matemáticas y Naturales, Dr. Gioconda Cunto de San Blas, discussed how the Maduro regime has been using pseudoscience and other propaganda trickery to irresponsibly create the impression that “their scientists” found a treatment for COVID-19. By promoting the plant extracted compound Carvativir, naming it “the miracle drops of José Gregorio Hernández” (after a medical doctor recently beatified by the Catholic Church), the chavista regime is pushing the use of medications without any scientific proof of their efficacy and safety. Dr. Cunto de San Blas also mentioned the case of the so-called Cuban Abdala experimental COVID-19 vaccine, which will be tested among Venezuelans with a total lack of transparency regarding the ethical protocols that should be followed in this kind of trial. But as retired chemistry professor from the Universidad Central de Venezuela and president of the Academia de Ciencias de América Latina, Claudio Bifano, said in the seminar the destruction of science capabilities and infrastructure in Venezuela is having a direct impact on the life of people. For example, the constant robberies and vandalism suffered by the Instituto de Medicina Tropical has meant less access to diagnostic and treatments of several diseases for Venezuelans, particularly the poor of the country. The dismantlement of the oil industry research and innovation capacities has translated into the chronic scarcity of gasoline and other fuel products (including domestic gas), a decline in the production of oil, and the almost vanishing of the oil refining infrastructure (Venezuela used to have one of the biggest refining complexes in the world). The agricultural and food research institutes and programs have also suffered enormously, aggravating an already nutritional crisis in the country. Professor Bifano summarized the situation in a blunt way: “This regime despises education.” And that’s the case at all levels, from pre-school to higher education. The salary of a full-time professor at a public university ranges between 3 and 6 US dollars per month. What’s the future of science in Venezuela? Ignacio Ávalos, a professor of sociology of science and technology at the Universidad Central de Venezuela, is not totally pessimistic. He mentioned in the seminar that the research and innovation infrastructure of the country not only should be rebuilt but transformed. He warned about the “nostalgia of the past” (that was not that perfect either, according to him). Professor Ávalos depicted a global context that is very different from the one of the 20th century, when science and research flourished in Venezuela. The country has to recreate the science infrastructure, adopt transparent policies with democratic orientations, reinstate the protection of academic freedom and scientific enquiry as a human right, attract and educate talent, and secure the financing through public and private funding. This will take place in a world that is changing dramatically thanks to biotechnology, information and communication technologies, artificial intelligence, and this is facing the growing power that private mega corporations such as Google, Facebook and Microsoft, and authoritarian governments (China being the best example) in controlling the lives, desires and decisions of people. The panellists in the seminar agreed that this could only happen if there is a political change. Without a return to democratic elected governments and institutions, and the rule of law, doing science in Venezuela will become more and more difficult, if not impossible. Also read: Strategies for Rebuilding Research Capacities in Venezuela by clicking here and the report Doing Research in Venezuela: Science, Technology and Innovation Capabilities to Overcome the Crisis in Venezuela by IDRC (Canada) and Global Development Network that is available here