Dear Professor Foran:
My delay in responding to your letter of January 12 in reference to our
projected book is due to a most unpleasant situation the new political
authorities of INAP (The National Institute for Public Administration of
Argentina) have created to me and three other colleagues at INAP. May I
call for your attention, and the attention of our collegues to whom I
sending copy of this letter, in order to state the main facts, so I can ask
for your, and their, professional solidarity. My professional and moral
integrity has been put under scrutiny due to an abusive exercise of power,
so I am asking for help to my colleagues and friends in the international
academic community. Since early 1998 I am the National Director for Labor
Training at INAP. A National Direction is the highest non-political
position in Argentina's civil service, a position only accesible through a
long, open and very competitive contest. Once reached, the position enjoys
a 5 year stability, which implies that no political officer is able to
force a National Director to resign. There are two ways to get rid of a
National Director during his or her term: 1) through a whole organizational
restructuring (which in my case is extremely difficult and should take some
time, since Labor Training is one of the two INAP's missions as established
in its foundational Act in 1973) or 2) through a process of administrative
impeachment, which implies that the person under prosecution has committed
an ilegal act, has stolen public resources or in some similar way is moraly
or legaly unfit to remain in office.
This second strategy is under way against me and three of my colleagues. In
my case, my alleged mismanagement consists in my refusal to fire 17
low-level employees (average monthly payment 420 u$s per month) in the
short period INAP was without top (political) conduction due to changes at
the national government. These persons work on an extremely "flexible"
conditions: some of them since 1992, others from 1993-94 on, are linked to
INAP through a system of 30 days long appointments, automatically renewed
every 30 days, which imply an absolute absence of labor stability over
seven or eight years. Nevertheless, this is a set of persons highly
qualified (after state reform, salaries or labor conditions no longer
reflect labor capabilities or responsibilities) which perform tasks which
could not be interrupted without damage to the patrimony and basic services
of the Direction: i.e. technical services to our server,
inter-institutional communications, issuance of training certificates, and
the like. So, there were technical reasons and not just "demagogic ones"
that led me to keep this persons in their positions until the day the new
authorities were finally appointed and they were formaly confirmed.
This is the case the new INAP's political authorities have built against
me. Ironically, in the same administrative decision where my impeachment is
launched, the 17 persons have been confirmed in their positions (for
another 30 days). In addition to put my honorability under suspicion,
INAP's decission prevents my participation in a number of international
activities I was already commited to. This is for example the case of a
graduate seminar I was scheduled to teach at the University of Alicante
(Spain) the last week of March. And, of course, the entire issue puts
myself and my family under very heavy stress. Despite the fact that,
according to my lawyers, there is no legal basis to my prosecution, the
process involves a situation of moral harassment and forces me to divert
time and emotional energies. I --and my lawyers--consider this a typical
case of political or ideological persecution. The goal is to steal my
position forcing me to resign, and in the meantime they will cast doubts on
my honorability and professionality.
As you may know, I have devoted my entire professional life to teaching and
researching; the products of which make part of the assigned literature in
a number of front-line colleges and universities in Latin America, Europe,
the United States or Asia. Over 20 of my books and pamphlets are integrated
to the catalogue of the Library of Congress as well of libraries of
hundreds of academic institutions. My shift from full-time academic life to
civil service was due to my intention to put in practice some of the iseas
I has been developing as teacher and researcher. For these reasons, I am
asking for "a little help from my friends" and colleagues. May I ask you to
call to INAP's Presidente, Mr, PATRICIO FURLONG, letting him know your
concern for this situation, or e-mail him messages in the same line or in
the way it will be more effective to drive this situation, as soon as
possible, to an end. This will be extremely usefull, in addition of my own
mobilization at both the legal. Calls and e-mails should be made to: Mr.
Patricio Furlong President, INAP Phone: (5411) 4343-9001 or live a message
to his secretary Ms Pique. e-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
For those of you who do not know me well, my cv goes as an attachment
(unfortunately I do not have an English version!).
For all of you,
Muchas gracias
Carlos M. Vilas [EMAIL PROTECTED] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Fax: (5411) 4345-2588
Louis Proyect
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