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 Citizen 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.
Vicente ,
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 curingurimx 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,
Note. 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).
RECEIVED ANSWERS: Webmaster of the Presidency.
