In the midst of the tension due to the funding cut ordered by the national Executive in the 2024 university budget, Javier Milei's government seeks to "audit" expenses. But the national universities issued a strong warning: they assured that they would be "violating university autonomy" and described the official intention as "things for the tribune."
"
They want to do whatever they want with other people's money.
It is complex to audit, but
we want to know how the money is spent,"
sources from the Casa Rosada
stressed to
Clarín
. They clarified that they are not seeking to implement a formal audit but rather to have access to receipts that "make expenses transparent."
In dialogue with this newspaper, the president of the National Interuniversity Council (CIN) and rector of the National University of San Luis,
Victor Moriñigo
, explained that "
it is not possible"
for the Government to carry out an audit of the national universities because "
they are audited by the AGN
(General Auditor of the Nation), which reports to the National Congress and not to the Executive Branch."
"The issue of the audit is very complex, but not because there is something to hide but rather since the genesis of the national universities, which are created by the National Congress, with which the AGN is the one that has jurisdiction.
These are things for the tribune
," emphasized Moriñigo, who specified that the
70% increase in the budget is for operating expenses
but does not include the payment of salaries.
In addition, he explained that in the conversations with the Ministry of Education, dependent on the Ministry of Human Capital led by Sandra Pettovello,
they requested a 280% update
that takes into account the inflation of 2023 and that projected for the current year. "
We continue talking with the Education Ministry, but after the march on April 23, we are going to request a meeting with Pettovello
," she anticipated.
"There is a bit of ignorance, because
everything they try to look for is totally transparent.
In all universities, an investment account is set up that is audited internally and approved by each Superior Council, which is something that is rotated every year "That information is in the AGN, therefore there is no problem going there and looking for what is needed," explained the president of the CIN.
From the General Auditor's Office of the Nation they told
Clarín
that "indeed, the universities that have transfers from the Treasury are audited by the AGN, since due to university autonomy the National Executive Branch could not audit them."
Regarding the periodicity of the audits, they stated: "They are launched when approved by the Joint Review Commission of Congress and included in the annual plan."
In this context, Moriñigo highlighted: "We are always willing to be accountable, from an accounting or a political perspective, but it goes another way than the anger of 'I want to see the ballots.'"
Despite the warning from the president of the National Interuniversity Council,
the Executive hardened its position
and blamed the government of Alberto Fernández for having promoted
"self-audits" in the universities
.
"The oversight task was denigrated and weakened to the maximum by the previous administration. They promoted something
similar to the self-amnesty that the military gave itself
," sources from the Undersecretary of University Policies told this newspaper, who spoke of "self-audits" and a "control simulation."
From that sector they said that the AGN audit is an "ex post, that is, after things happen" procedure and is "very slow."
How was the Federal University March held on April 23?
In the midst of the short circuits with the Secretary of Education of the Nation, Carlos Torrandel, who asked that "superfluous expenses" be cut, sources from the University of Buenos Aires (UBA) considered that "
the issue of the audit is to look for an excuse to the adjustment they are making
, because their own audit has already been done and it is published, that is public information.
"The mobilization has to serve to make
the Government aware of the adjustment
they are making and how serious the problem is," they expressed from the UBA, referring to the
Federal University March that will take place on April 23,
from the National Congress towards Plaza de Mayo, to complain about the lack of funds.
In the midst of the conflict, the Undersecretary of University Policies, Alejandro Álvarez, used his social networks to establish the Government's position: "It is a lie that they are not going to open in the second semester, but obviously they want to terrorize and the authorities do it!"
On April 9 (7 days ago) he received the request note for a budget expansion from the UBA, he was notified that his requests were accepted and the payment has already been signed, however they cut off the electricity to continue sowing panic among the students. It is a lie that they are not going to open in the… pic.twitter.com/k2Rd5Oqdcj
— Alejandro Alvarez (h.) (@AleCiroAlvarez) April 17, 2024
In dialogue with
Clarín
, Victor Moriñigo picked up the gauntlet and highlighted: "Public universities will never close. We must not scare the children and families who make an enormous effort to send them to other provinces to study.
We do need the Government to not "he sees us as enemies
and that, sitting together, we agree on a series of increases that counteract inflation and the higher costs of 2024."
"If that does not happen, it will be very difficult to sustain the university as we know it. There will be a contingency university with less quality, simply because it has fewer resources," he warned.
Finally, he called for "not only those who know the university" to participate in the mobilization, because
"public education is not for radicals or Peronists or leftists
but rather an asset of society."