The great budget spectacle: Increase or optical illusion?
In a turn of events that left more than one person frowning, the always predictable Chamber of Deputies today approved its favorite financial juggling act: the Expenditure Budget of the Federation for 2026. And oh, surprise, the great protagonists of this annual drama, the Culture sector and the Science, Humanities, Technology and Innovation sector, left… well, more or less as they entered. Is this a triumph or simply a conditioned reflection of the system?
Ramo 48, the one that makes sure we don’t forget where we come from (and sometimes, where we don’t want to go), was “reassigned” the modest amount of 1,985.5 million pesos. It sounds impressive, until you realize that with this monumental arithmetic effort, the budget for next year barely matches this year’s 15,081.5 million pesos. Come on, they put so much effort into it that they managed to keep the country from going backwards in culture. A round of applause! Meanwhile, Ramo 38, that of the much vaunted science and innovation, received an additional 2,500 million pesos to the initial proposal of 34,860.8 million pesos. Will it be enough to invent a time machine that takes us to a future with better spending decisions? Who knows.
The crisis avoided: Or how to fix a problem that you created yourself
The master move was so subtle that it almost went unnoticed. It turns out that the original proposal of the Federal Expenditure Budget Project 2026 proposed a cut of 1,984 million pesos for culture. A brilliant idea, without a doubt, just when we need identity and roots most. But then, in a fit of lucidity (or perhaps remorse), the presidency announced that it would return what it was going to take away. What a generosity, right? Return what was stolen… I mean, what was reassigned. In the end, the great achievement was that, after such a tug-of-war, the culture stayed in exactly the same place. A happy ending… or at least, not disastrous.
Now, the great unknown that keeps the cultural community in suspense is: where will these 1,985.5 million pesos go? Hope, that eternal optimist, points to the financial lifeline reaching the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and the National Institute of Fine Arts and Literature (INBAL), the institutions that were about to suffer the presidential blow. Because, let’s be honest, what better way to demonstrate the value of culture than by cutting its budget and then returning it with fanfare?
The outcome of this epic battle for resources will be known in the coming days, when the final version of the budget is published in the Official Gazette of the Federation. Meanwhile, artists, scientists and ordinary citizens can sleep peacefully knowing that, for another year, culture and science in Mexico will not sink… although they will not sail towards new horizons either. They will simply stay afloat. And these days, that seems to be the new concept of “victory.”
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