México D. F., Jun 25, 2001
TO: Vicente Fox Quezada. Constitutional President of the Mexican United States
FROM: Roberto Velázquez Cabrera. Thesist and independent researcher
SUBJECT: Reply of gratefulness to the participation in the Public Consultation to formulate the PND (National
Plan of Development) and a new proposal and request of participation. I allow
myself to answer by the same means, confidence and simplicity of forms.
Thank you very much for your attention to have sent me an electronic mail as an
answer to my proposal of
policy to include effective programs to investigate, to rescue and to
promote the rich Mexican culture and technology, that continue valid. As
example of the situation, my studies in Mexican organology were included. Next,
I allow myself to provide details of the example to illustrate the problems and
to better support the proposal, hoping that they can be useful.
With my limited resources and savings during almost three years I have
tried, as you say, to be a contributor in the construction of a new country,
doing studies on Mexican aerohones, whose academic purpose is derived from an
intellectual restlessness and professional nationalism. Between the studies a
thesis for a master (MSc) in
computation in the Centro de Investigación en Computación (CIC, Research Center
in Computation) of the Instituto
Politécnico Nacional (IPN, National Polytechnic Institute) developed during a
year. The object was to define a methodology of simple and economic analysis
that already I have proven with experimental clay replicas, because the
information of the rescued old aerohones is restricted. The subject is relevant
because it belongs to the rich Mexican culture and technology that were
destroyed and prohibited during the Conquest and that has not been investigated
formally nor fomented later.
The intention of this thesis was to set a precedent so that an
institution of superior education for the first time accepted a work of
investigation in the subject. Unfortunately, it has not been possible that the
done work be approved, by the Coordination of Postgraduates of the IPN,
although the subject of
thesis was authorized by the Thesis Reviser Commission
of the Professors of the CIC approved the document presented, from October
15 of 1999. At almost two years of delay, the not-approval subsists argued (at
posteriori or after of having authorized me the research subject and the report
of the study) in secondary regulations that do not have relation with the
investigation subject nor help to improve the work done and they say that there
are no lines of investigation in the matter. If the subject and the author were
not eligible, why they did not say it from the beginning? It seems that they do
not realize that with that it is not taken care of the orderings of the
Constitution and the Law of the own IPN not complying with to investigate and to foment our culture and
technology. Which also is contrary to the noble institutional motto " The
technology to the service of the mother country " and it is not
contemplated, what it is the benefit. The technical and legal
justification of the subject is in the document presented. Will I have to
publish it like a prohibited thesis?
Some of the later studies of the subscribed, already have taken
advantage of the designed methodology and proven in the thesis and computation
congresses of acoustics and have appeared in, asked for talks and they were
posted in Internet. The published studies have been welcomed by the few experts
who exist in the exterior, since in the international context a similar
methodology available does not exist nor have studied the thousands of
aerohones of old cultures in possession of diverse museums and collections. The
subject is new in the formal investigation and is very probable that the new
investigations that come up to can have a good impact in the international
scope. The learned technique to make experimental replicas has allowed me to
reinvent, to rediscover and to rescue a beautiful lost Mexican art.
I resorted to the IPN, because no other institution of investigation or
superior education has been interested in making formal investigations in the
matter of my studies, like result of the Colonization and the ignorance of the
subject. Neither most cultured, prepared (liberal or conservative) and
nationalist they have been interested in studying and rescuing this pre -
Hispanic and indigenous culture. The last school that took care of this field
was called Cuicacalli (House of Music and Song) but it was destroyed
when the Ceremonial Center Precinct of Tenotchtitlan was devastated.
Their priests and teachers also were assassinated in that massacre, including
the last Mexican master of our subject: Tlapitzcalzin (Gentleman of the
House of the Flutes). The
great massacre began when they sang for the last time with their sonorous
devices.
With the purpose of knowing the present regulations to obtain or to
capture descriptive information of old aerohones of the museums which is
necessary to prove and to improve the methodology of analysis of the subscribed
one, several requests have been made. From 1999 to recent dates writings have
been sent to several public administrators with that purpose, including to the
holders of the National
Institute of Anthropology and History, National Coordination of
Archaeology of the INAH, National
Coordination of Legal Subjects of the INAH, National Museum of Anthropology
and Museum of the Great
Temple. The requests have not been answered, contravening the
Constitutional Right of Petition. The only one that has answered is the National
Coordinator of Archaeology,
who informed that a work does not exist that is boarded by systematic way the
study of this type of objects of Old Mexico and thanked me for the interest in
the subject. It has not been possible to have the information asked for.
It has not been possible to obtain financial support or of any other
type, since the institutions that have to the position to promote cultural and
technological investigations, like CONACULTA and CONACYT, require for the
presentation of projects the endorsement of an interested institution. As the
existing institutions have not been interested in the subject, it has not been
possible not even to present request of support to continue participating doing
studies of greater reach, that require of specialized resources in metrology,
acoustics and organologic analysis.
Studying our culture and technology is not only important in the education
sector, since also it can help to generate projects to decrease the cost of
currencies and to obtain income by exports. Most of the professional musical
instruments are imported and the Mexican organology can be of international
interest. Fomenting its production can general new opportunities of income and
employment, even in zones of high poverty where hundreds of artisan centers are
located, which can obtain greater income if they give more added value to their
clay products. Other additional advantages exist that do not occur in other
promoted cases like in the industry that requires of imports, since the raw
material of the Mexican aerohones comes from our earth and it is very abundant
and varied.
Taking your word, my petition Mr. President is that the possibility is
to surpass the indicated obstacles so that together we can improve the future
of the country in a better way and I can continue participating with the
development of my project of investigation. The mentioned obstacles derive from
very old deficiencies which are necessary to surpass, if we really want to
construct a better country. The objectives of the investigations could be
extended if interest in formulating projects in this field exists and is
feasible to obtain supports to be able to reach benefits of greater value and
amplitude.
In the pages of the Virtual Office of Promotion
of the Mexican Organology Curinguri the documentary of the case with
seals of their reception are included. The published studies can be consulted
in the Institute of Virtual
Investigation Tlapitzcalzin. They were put open to make a
consultation by international specialists and to help divulgate the Mexican
ancient organology.
I am sending this writing to the electronic mail of the PND with copy to
the server of the Presidency, but as in the page of Commentaries it is
clarified that: " Using the service of electronic mail of the Presidency is
independent to the exercise of the right of petition " also I am sending
the present, written in paper and signed, to the direction of mail of the
Presidency of the Republic (it was sent by MEXPOST the 26 of June of 2001, with
copies of main documents of reference).
Kindly,
Robert Velázquez Cabrera
Notes.
1. The Spanish
versions sent to the Presidency had text format and MS Word and It did not
have the implicit links to the support documents (in Spanish).
2. The documents of the links are in Spanish