在socio-poli尼加拉瓜谜题在空间计划tical turmoil

The Nicaraguan government has created aNational Secretariat for Outer Space, Moon and other Celestial Bodies，令该国科学界感到惊讶的是，预算削减和意识形态迫害所包围。

随着该国正处于严重的社会政治危机之中，国民议会批准了为“捍卫最高利益”在太空中创建的机构。根据丹尼尔·奥尔特加（Daniel Ortega）总统的提议，它将寻求“在教育，工业，科学和技术分支机构中扩大该国的能力”。

但是，尼加拉瓜是拉丁美洲最贫穷的国家之一，缺乏教育计划，合格的专业人士和专门用于空间的设施。

“As long as freedom is persecuted in its different expressions, there can be no science in Nicaragua,”

尼加拉瓜科学学院副校长梅尔巴·卡斯蒂略（Melba Castillo）

地理学家和历史学家Jaime Incer Barquerowas sceptical. In order to get into this area of knowledge, “you have to start from scratch, instead of having fantastic ideas,” he said.

Molecular biologist豪尔赫·休特（Jorge Huete），，，，member of the Nicaraguan Academy of Sciences (NAS), believes officials “have completely lost the compass about the real problems and priorities of this nation”.

由政府资助的秘书处“是对国际工具的最晚批准，在一个几乎无法在卫生系统中支付基本护理的国家”，前卫生部长多拉·玛丽亚·泰勒兹（Dora Maria Tellez）告诉scidev.net。

由于拉丁美洲第二低的GDP，尼加拉瓜累积了三年的衰退和越来越多的失业。在2020年，随着Covid-19-19的大流行负担，贫困增加了15％。

这场危机于2018年4月达到了转折点，政府对社会保障改革的抗议进行了暴力镇压。官方数据显示，镇压造成351人死亡，1,337人受伤，而500多人被捕。其中许多是学生。

University authorities were complicit in therepression within campuses特莱兹说，后来驱逐了那些参加的人，删除了他们的记录。

Melba Castillo, vice president of NAS, says the country has “no science and technology plan”. She lamented the “political layoffs”尼加拉瓜国家自治大学的科学家和纳斯和中美洲大学的预算削减。

The Ministry of Education “has closed access to the education system to anyone who does not have the government’s endorsement, so it is very difficult to undertake independent investigations,” she added.

在区域层面，伊比罗裔美国人的组织和Network of Science and Technology Indicators（Ricyt，西班牙语）没有收到Ricyt协调员Mario Albornoz的尼加拉瓜的信息scidev.net。

这种缺乏透明度似乎在政府对大流行的反应中得到了回应。卫生部在2020年2月说：“尼加拉瓜尚未建立任何类型的隔离。”

更多的than 400 health workers自2018年以来，该国就离开了自己的职位。“那些不遵守政府的指示的人被解雇或通过轮班变更或工作压力辞职，”卡斯蒂略说。

“Now the COVID-19 areas [in hospitals] have disappeared to give the impression that the pandemic has been defeated,” said Tellez. “These patients are admitted to general wards.”

尼加拉瓜卫生部报告了6,489例和174例死亡，但公民天文台- 验证非正式报告 - 算出13,209例案件和2,997例“可疑”死亡。

同时，政府指控PCR测试150美元to check anyone who wants to cross its borders for COVID-19.

scidev.netreceived no responses to interview requests with legislators, or representatives from the Ministry of Health and the Nicaraguan Council for Science and Technology about the new space agency and national science policies.

Some scientists also declined to respond. They were fearful of losing their jobs, according to two sources who asked not to be identified.

“首先，惩罚性法律would have to be repealed,” Castillo said, referring to the environment of secrecy, and rules that sanction those who disseminate information deemed false by the State and those who receive external financing. She called for the opening up of educational, health, environmental and economic indicators, and the recovery of university autonomy.

她总结说：“只要自由在不同的表达中受到迫害，尼加拉瓜就不会有科学。”

这篇文章是由Scidev.net的拉丁美洲和加勒比海桌制作的，并为CLALITY编辑。