Several board members of Argentina’s National Council for Science and Technology (CONICET) issued an alarming document late last year on the financial crisis that is afflicting the central administration and its hundreds of research institutes. They offered a dark prognosis for the months to come.

Budget cuts over the past three years have severely curtailed the recruitment of researchers and technical staff. The repatriation of Argentinian researchers, international collaborations, academic contacts and conferences are all affected. Infrastructure and equipment in national laboratories, animal facilities and libraries are deteriorating. The result is an ageing and demoralized science community. Scientific research is starting to give ground to other national interests and goals.

The situation echoes that of 18 years ago, albeit with a different context and cast of characters, and again it threatens to quell the dynamism of Argentina’s research community.