This Monday, former ministers of science and technology participated in a debate in the framework of the 5th Venezuelan Congress on Science, Technology, and Innovation. The congress seeks to offer a far-reaching view of the Venezuelan reality by following science principles, with representatives from various ministries and institutions that served in previous years as heads of this agency.
During this gathering of knowledge, three former ministers participated. Yadira Cordova, Jorge Arreaza, and Ricardo Menendez led by the current Minister Gabriela Jimenez. They debated the different models of science and technology evidenced in their administrations and those they are currently facing amid economic blockades and the pandemic.
“It is essential to have a component of science and technology that is free as a concept, as a value, as a principle, and that allows liberating the country. Productive knowledge nationalizes productive chains,” mentioned former Minister Ricardo Menendez during the event broadcasted live through the YouTube channel, IndustriasVE in alliance with the Ministry of Science, Technology, and Innovation (MINCYT).
“We cannot do individual science. There is a historical accumulation in humanity, even in laboratories. That is why it is fundamental to recover the value of collective work, and it means thinking about organizational forms. Venezuela has important advances in this sense that need strengthening: communities of knowledge, work units that seek to enhance the knowledge of the people,” said former minister Yadira Cordova.
Similarly, Cordova praised Venezuelan women’s daily hard work in science: “Women have an integral vision. It is important that science recognizes and acknowledges them. It is not about establishing comparisons between men and women. It is about presenting their progress in this discussion of science and technology models.”
Science and production: processes that go hand in hand
Also, the former Minister of University Education, Science and Technology and current Minister of Industries and National Production, Jorge Arreaza, indicated that this event introduced itself to the world as a profitable space to socialize science while highlighting the importance of science and industry working hand in hand.
“Scientific knowledge and production must go hand in hand, and I am well aware that Minister Gabriela Jimenez has this very much in mind,” he said.
Minister Arreaza took the opportunity to recognize with impetus the noble work carried out by the working class of the entities attached to the Ministry of Industries. “Our main scientists are the workers. This year industries such as SIDOR, among others, have become great laboratories of chemical processes, using applied science through the implementation of scientific processes. Because that is science: Production and it is necessary to promote this model in Venezuela”
To conclude, he reiterated the importance of the institutional processes between the State and the working class. Even more, both are fundamental elements for the economic revival of the nation. He invited the former ministers present to be self-critical and recognize the importance of the social process of labor. “Only through science and work will we achieve the transformation of Venezuela,” he said.
