Sir

Mendoza et al. in Correspondence (Nature 421, 473; 2003) ask for help in the name of the Venezuelan scientific community, in view of the current turmoil in our country. However, as we show here, the real figures tell a different story, pointing to the efforts made by the current government, which has been in power since 1999, to satisfy the demands of the scientific sector.

More than 60% of Venezuela's science budget comes from the government. During the past ten years, total investment has continuously increased, from US$177 million in 1990 to $405 million during 2000. In 2001, the state science budget was, astonishingly, increased by more than 50%, reaching $637 million. As a consequence there have been more grants for established researchers, as well as a significant improvement in economic support for graduate students.

Notably, Venezuela spends more on science and technology activities per researcher than any other country in North or South America apart from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) countries: Canada, Mexico and the United States. In 1999, while the NAFTA countries spent $126,000 per researcher, Venezuela spent $76,000, compared with an average expenditure of just $62,000 per researcher in the countries of Latin America and the Caribbean region. In 2000 Venezuela's spending increased to $86,000 per researcher, while the average in Latin America and the Caribbean went down to $61,000 (see http://www.ricyt.edu.ar).

The current government has created a Ministry of Science and Technology and approved the first law promoting science and technology in our country's history. Regional governments are now required to contribute part of their budgets to science, and a considerable amount of money has been devoted to regional programmes. We believe that the present government has provided benefits to the scientific community, and that its significant efforts for the advancement of science in Venezuela should be recognized.

A considerable number of enthusiastic science students and other young scientists in Venezuela have shown their dedication to science during the current social and political conflict, in particular during December and January, when many of them kept working despite transport difficulties caused by petrol shortages and illegal road blocks.

Despite the efforts made by some political and economic sectors to destabilize the democratically elected government, many members of the scientific community are confident that Venezuelan science will overcome this adverse situation in the near future.

Undoubtedly, though, the current crisis will have a negative effect on this year's science budget (see “Venezuelan science hit by national strikes”, http://www.scidev.net, 7 February 2003).