Rolando Herrera/Reform Agency
Sunday, January 01, 2023 | 09:15
Mexico City.- The alleged testimony of Edgar Ulises Báez Gutiérrez, offered by Minister Yasmín Esquivel, in which he said he had taken references and text of the judge’s thesis, was the one that caused the university authorities to delay their resolution, reported Rector Enrique Graue.
In a statement, he pointed out that the Academic and Scientific Integrity Committee of the FES Aragón had already determined that the original thesis that was plagiarized was the one presented in 1986 by Báez Gutiérrez.
Esquivel presented in 1987, a year two months later, a thesis that reproduces 90 percent of the work of the former student, which allowed him to obtain a law degree.
“After the analysis of the documentation by the Committee and based on the high level of coincidences between the theses under review, greater than 90 percent, the existence of plagiarism is evident.
“The academic review of the contents of both theses, their publication dates, as well as the physical and digital archives of the University, lead us to presume that the original thesis was the one supported in 1986,” he reported.
However, the Rector pointed out, hours before the Committee began its meeting to make its decision, it received a letter attributed to Báez Gutiérrez in which it says that it used several references, texts and important parts of the content of the thesis published in 1987.
Yesterday, the Minister reported that the testimony, certified by a notary public, was delivered to the Committee by Martha Rodríguez Ortiz, who was the thesis director of both Esquivel and Báez Gutiérrez.
“Given these contradictory facts and without being certain of the dimension of the plagiarism expressed in the testimony of the former student of the 1986 thesis, it is evident that it is necessary to collect additional information to deepen the documentary analysis and, if applicable, call to the parties involved,” Graue said.
In addition to the alleged testimony, Esquivel presented other evidence, including an expert opinion in which he accuses that his thesis was modified on December 22 in the UNAM repository.
Regarding this point, the Chancellor said that when reviewing the thesis in question after Guillermo Sheridan’s accusation of plagiarism, the university staff realized that the document was missing eight pages, so the microfilm was taken back to scan and incorporate them into the PDF.
“In the eighties, the UNAM microfilmed the theses presented. In the year two thousand, the digitization of the microfilmed theses began to convert them into PDF files.
“When comparing the PDFs of the theses in question, the absence of eight pages was observed in the file of the former student’s work. Therefore, there was a need to return to the microfilm to scan the missing pages and complete the PDF in the repository of TESIUNAM,” he explained.
Graue said that the UNAM will implement all the necessary measures to avoid repeating similar cases, which could imply including reforms to university regulations and prevention strategies, using specialized digital tools to detect possible irregularities.
“The National Autonomous University of Mexico enjoys the trust of Mexican society and this is one of its main strengths. The truth is in the essence of UNAM and constitutes a fundamental value of our actions and our work. For these reasons, In my capacity as Rector, I do not accept that derived from other people’s disputes, the prestige and honor of the University are violated,” he said.
