CIENTFICO

(Spanish: scientist), member of a group of officials, serving from the early 1890s in Porfirio Diz' regime (18761911) in Mexico, who were influenced by Positivism, the philosophy of the Frenchman Auguste Comte. Rejecting metaphysics, theology, and idealism as means of solving national problems, the cientficos advocated what they considered to be the practical application of scientific methods, specifically those of the social sciences, to problems of finance, industrialization, and education. The founders of the group were Rosenda Pineda and Romero Rubio. In 1895 Jos Yves Limantour, the son of a French immigrant and finance minister since 1893, became leader of the circle. He pressed government officials to concentrate on efficiency and did much himself to improve the financial footing of the country. The learned Justo Sierra became minister of education and continued the educational reforms according to Positivist principles initiated in the 1870s by Gabino Barreda, a student of Comte and member of Benito Jurez' government. In 1910 Sierra reopened the National University for the first time in almost a century of national independence. The cientficos furnished Daz' dictatorship, which they upheld as a bulwark against anarchy, with a prestigious facade, as the army and the rurales (federal police) provided it with its foundation. Daz, however, had little rapport with these intellectuals. Because of their influence, wealth, and favouritism toward foreign capitalists, the cientficos were objects of popular disfavour, while Daz himself tried to cultivate the confidence of the uneducated masses. These cientficos were eclipsed when the Daz regime fell in the Revolution of 1911. During the ascendancy of Plutarco Elas Calles, both as president and former president (192434), another group, also called cientficos, came to power; they advocated the use of modern business methods to benefit both themselves and the nation, while stressing self-enrichment. The Positivist movement also took root in other Latin-American countries, influencing government and education in Brazil, Argentina, and Chile in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.