Universality of Science

I am writing to express my grave concern as to the current policies and practices of the U.S. government with regard to visas for scientists from Cuba.

The president-elect of the Federation of Latin American Chemical Societies, Alberto Nuñez, was invited by ACS to attend its recent meeting in Boston on Aug. 18–24.

He applied for a visa in good time and made his arrangements to fly to Boston from Havana immediately after returning from a series of International Union of Pure & Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) meetings in Europe. He received notification from the U.S. State Department on Aug. 14, when he was still in Europe, that his visa application had been denied.

The reasons for the visa refusal for Nuñez, who has previously visited the U.S., were not communicated. However, his case mirrors that of another eminent Cuban scientist, Miguel García Roche, who is president of the Latin American Regional Group for Food Science, which is affiliated with the International Union for Food Science & Technology. He was refused a visa in June to attend a meeting of the American national affiliate to the union.

In both of these cases, the result is that the Latin American scientific community has been excluded from representation in meetings of American scientific societies. This is in clear breach of the principle of universality, as articulated in the International Council for Science statute 5, which is adhered to by IUPAC and all affiliated unions:

"The principle of the Universality of Science is fundamental to scientific progress. This principle embodies freedom of movement, association, expression and communication for scientists, as well as equitable access to data, information and research materials. In pursuing its objectives in respect of the rights and responsibilities of scientists, the International Council for Science (ICSU) actively upholds this principle, and, in so doing, opposes any discrimination on the basis of such factors as ethnic origin, religion, citizenship, language, political stance, gender, sex or age. ICSU shall not accept disruption of its own activities by statements or actions that intentionally or otherwise prevent the application of this principle."

It is important that both individual scientists and their representative organizations actively support this principle and, in so doing, oppose any unjustified distortion of normal scientific practice and exchange for political ends. Throughout history, diplomatic relations between different countries have varied enormously, but scientific progress, based on open exchange, has continued. The refusal of visas on political grounds for Cuban scientists to attend meetings in the U.S. is a serious threat to the universality of science and should be of concern to scientists everywhere and to all those interested in promoting international science for the benefit of society.

Bengt Gustafsson
Chairman,
ICSU Committee on Freedom & Responsibility in the Conduct of Science
Uppsala, Sweden