Daniel Barraco leads a life linked to the National University of Córdoba. At the age of 11 he began military service as a student at the Manuel Belgrano School, which he had to leave due to pressure from the last military dictatorship. He studied at Famaf, where he obtained a doctorate in Physics, was dean of the institution, member of the Superior Council, chief of staff during the rectorship of Hugo Juri and is currently the secretary of Science and Technology of the University.
This link with the Casa de Trejo allows Barraco to analyze the situation that the institution is going through after the massive protest that occurred last week in defense of public education. In dialogue with PERFIL CÓRDOBA, the renowned professional explained what challenges arise for 2024 and how this conflict, generated after cuts to the educational budget, could be resolved.
“There is a very strong image that stayed with me from the march and it is that of a girl who was putting up a poster that said ‘Conan would not exist without science.’ Afterwards, I spoke with her and she told me that she had voted for Milei but that she would not allow them to affect the university,” Barraco explained. “I think Milei is not realizing what is happening in the real country. Córdoba will always come out to defend its university, its public education. What happened does not surprise me, historically the marches with these slogans have been very supportive,” he added.
Barraco questioned the tone with which President Javier Milei expressed himself in recent days, particularly before the march, but also highlighted some concepts issued regarding the university. “Aggressive speech is useless here. We must learn from great leaders who have had the serenity to sit down and discuss. The historic British Prime Minister Winston Churchill spent hours discussing his speech with himself before delivering it. “It is important to seduce people, we do not need more confrontation,” he said. And he added: “I ask that we talk, let’s sit down and talk about how to improve the functioning of the university. We agree that we have to make profound changes in the country, but let’s do it without breaking anything.”
Barraco highlighted Milei’s statements that he will maintain the financing of universities. “That is a plus point; Then she said that the university is a noble institution, another point in its favor, that’s enough for me. We understand that there is an entire culture to change but that takes time, it is not done in a few months. We want to talk seriously but from serenity, as sensible people because we all want this to improve,” he analyzed.
–Do you think the march was politicized?
–We do not politicize it, from the University we never did. But I can’t say that there aren’t people with political interests or radicalized people, I don’t know, I can’t be everywhere. There may also have been infiltrated people who wanted to use us in a battle that is not ours.
–Has UNC science felt the adjustment?
–Yes, what do you think? This year we cannot give new scholarships. We keep the ones we have guaranteed. We are not going to have the money we had for equipment. Last year we signed up for the Equip 3 Plan, we paid more than a million dollars for a piece of equipment and the agreement we have with the former Ministry of Science and Technology is that they were going to recognize us for that investment and it is something that we are still waiting for. . I don’t know if we are going to recover the money we put into a first-generation electron microscope, which is used a lot in the service we provide to companies. We have to take care of companies that are ours, such as Hemoderivados, which is the one with the highest turnover in South America; or Invap, which generates a lot for the country. We also know that in the past some hooligans used science to their advantage, but science and technology do not have to be ideological.
–Do you think the President understood the message that the massive march sought to give?
–The President should follow an old phrase from Confucius: “To govern is to rectify.” If he understands, he’s going to have to rectify his course a little. He already said that it is a noble cause, that is enough for me. Everything he said on social media isn’t that important. The President has the legitimacy of the vote, but he has to recognize that the governors, legislators and mayors also have it. In addition, the legitimacy of institutions must be respected, something key for its own legitimacy because this is a representative republican democracy, it is a very well thought-out institutional system, but it legitimizes you as long as you operate within certain parameters.
