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With the inauguration of Claudia Sheinbaum as president, former employees of the National Commission for the Knowledge and Use of Biodiversity (Conabio) hope that, based on her scientific profile, she will restore the expertise lost during this administration with temporary staff arriving at the organization.
During the six-year term of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, people with no technical background and who do not follow guidelines began to occupy the highly specialized space, but who are loyal to the Fourth Transformation, including former employees of the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) who supported the construction of the Maya Train.
Former Conabio members who were fired or forced to resign also claim that turnover means less revenue from governments and international organizations that fund biodiversity conservation projects, environmental protection, renewable energy use and training.
It is not only about the positions they occupy and the de facto restructuring they are carrying out. It is also about the management of the Conabio biodiversity fund, they say.
The first to leave was José Sarukhán, the national coordinator of Conabio and former president of the National Autonomous University of Mexico. It happened in August 2022, when the head of Semarnat, María Luisa Albores, appointed Daniel Quezada Daniel as executive secretary of the organization. In addition, he described himself as a geographer and economist and worked in the transparency department of Semarnat.
Alberez made this appointment outside the Conabio regulations, according to which this was the power of the organization’s national coordinator, the then biologist José Sarukhán, who in 1992 was one of the committee’s founders.
For the next 18 years, Sarukhán served as honorary national coordinator. The organization was led by Jorge Soberón and later by Ana Luisa Guzmán. In 2010, Sarukhán returned to lead Conabio until 2022.
That year, Sarukhan presented a shortlist of experts to the Executive Secretariat, but Alborez rejected the proposal and directly appointed Quesada Daniel.
Sarukhan’s departure is one of the first of 90 cases of involuntary resignations, layoffs and terminations of people who were notified for failing competency exams or not meeting retention targets, even though some had years of experience at the position.
Administrative violations
According to Proceso Consultation and complaints filed by former Conabio employees with the Secretariat of Public Functions, Albores lacks the authority provided for in article 6 of the Semarnat Internal Regulations, which prohibits appointments that are not in his best interest. They also cite violations of article 57 of the General Law on Administrative Liability, on abuse of power, and article 61, on influence peddling.
Quezada Daniel was formerly Head of the Social Participation and Transparency Coordination Unit of Semarnat and has been a member of the National First Level Researcher System since 2020.
Roberto Rojo, the biologist who exposed the Maya Train violations, posted on his social networks that Quesada attended an information meeting on the Environmental Impact Performance (MIA) of the South 5 Region before his appointment to Conabio, and “he calmly stated that the Maya Train did not violate any regulations and that everything was carried out transparently. ”
With Quesada’s appointment, Alberez intends to return to the idea of a “new” Conabio organizational structure and transform it into a scientific and technical coordination unit for knowledge, conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity within the same institution. In 2023, he will submit the proposal to the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service Secretariat for consideration, who estimate that it is feasible if positions are not duplicated.
According to Conabio’s legal staff, the draft was submitted to the National Regulatory Improvement Council (Conamer) on March 6 this year, but was frozen in the legal department of the Presidential Palace. The proposed changes are still being negotiated in Conamer.
Excerpt from the magazine’s 0014th edition processcorresponding to August 2024, a digital copy of which is available at This link.
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