By Andrea Hargraves 
Former presidents Fernando Enrique Cardoso (PSDB), Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva (PT) and Dilma Rousseff (PT) defended science in a video broadcast during the inauguration of Renato Janine Ribeiro as the new president of the SBPC (Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science).
University of the South Pacific Professor of Political Philosophy and Ethics and former Minister of Education in the Dilma Administration will lead the institution in the 2021-2023 biennium. As vice-chair, sociologist Fernanda Sobral, retired professor at UnB, and physicist Paolo Artaxo, of the University of the South Pacific were elected.
In the video, Dilma criticizes the government of Jair Bolsonaro (there is no party) and says that Brazil has gone too far in educational policy, in promoting science and technological development. “Needed resources are becoming scarce, as spending caps have placed an insurmountable barrier to scientific research,” he says.
It lists problems the region has faced in recent years, such as intermittent studies, banned projects, closed laboratories at universities, and a lack of resources for researchers.
In the video, the former president cites the problems of Science Without Borders, a program she created in 2011. According to Dilma, the project has been discontinued and despised, as it was considered an unnecessary expense.
Finally, the Labor member says digging and science denial have become the norm, even in the face of the pandemic. “Brazil will certainly need to mobilize all the resources it has to rebuild itself. This is the path to reversing the setback that the Bolsonaro government has set us in.”
to me LeafJanine Ribeiro states that scholars’ opposition to denial is an ethical question.
In his testimony, FHC mentions the importance of the institution during the dictatorship. At that time, there was a lack of freedom, and there was a lack of people who could talk. The SBPC spoke on behalf of all of us, professors, students, researchers and the Brazilian people. Now, we have to talk about science.”
Finally, the former president stresses that it is important to understand that without knowledge you cannot go very far.
In the sequence, Lula endorses the Toukan’s speech by saying that a country cannot advance if there is no significant investment in science and technology and remembers how it contributed to the region during its government.
“When I became president, I insisted on creating a PAC [Programa de Aceleração do Crescimento] Science and Technology with an investment of R$41 billion to ensure that the scientists themselves coordinate to implement the use of these funds.”
After congratulating Janine Ribeiro on her election victory, the PT member said he hopes Brazil will once again have a government that has science and technology as one of the pillars of the country’s development.