DNA Helps Reunite Children With Their Families

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DNA Helps Reunite Children With Their Families

Of the 600,000-800,000 people trafficked across international borders each year, 50 percent are under 17. It is estimated that by 2010, human trafficking will be the No. 1 crime worldwide.

Arthur Eisenberg, Ph.D., professor and chairman of the department of forensic and investigative Genetics and co-director of the UNT Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas (UNT) Health Science Center, is on a mission to stop this horrific industry through a $500,000 grant from The Life Technologies Foundation to develop the DNA-PROKIDS Project (Program for Kids Identification with DNA Systems ). PROKIDS is an international humanitarian effort using DNA testing to deter human trafficking of children and help reunite abducted and homeless children with their parents.

Through the DNA-PROKIDS program, DNA samples will be obtained from children associated with human trafficking whether through prostitution, forced labor, militant activities, or illegal adoptions, or homeless children found living on the street. Their DNA profiles will be stored in an international database were they can be searched against the DNA profiles provided by families who have had their children kidnapped or lost.

Eisenberg is collaborating with Jose Lorente, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of legal and forensic medicine at the University of Granada-Spain, to help establish a worldwide DNA database to help reunite children with their parents and ultimately deter the trafficking of children. Lorente was inspired to establish DNA-PROKIDS to help return children to their parents after seeing countless numbers of children wandering the streets in cities across the world. He wondered, were their families looking for them? Without a way to identify them, it would be impossible to bring them home. Perhaps an international DNA database would help reunite these children with their families.

Lorente chose to collaborate with the UNT Health Science Center because of its reputation as a world-renowned center for human identification. The Center has been responsible for the development of DNA technologies and systems for parentage testing, forensic testing and for the identification of missing persons and human remains.

Eisenberg and Lorente hope all countries throughout the world will develop national databases that will link to an international repository of these DNA profiles. Then DNA- PROKIDS will become a deterrent and prevent criminals from kidnapping and trafficking children, the most vulnerable of all victims.

About the University of North Texas Health Science Center

The University of North Texas Health Science Center comprises the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the School of Public Health, and the School of Health Professions. Key research areas include aging and Alzheimer\’s disease, cancer and physical medicine. This year, the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine was named a top 50 medical school in primary care by U.S. News & World Report for the eighth consecutive year. «Fort Worth\’s medical school and more» contributes more than $400 million to the Tarrant County and Texas economies annually. For more information, go to http://www.hsc.unt.edu/

About Life Technologies

Life Technologies Corporation is a global biotechnology tools company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific exploration, driving to discoveries and developments that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance personalized medicine, regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, agricultural and environmental research, and 21st century forensics. Life Technologies had sales of more than $3 billion in 2008, employs approximately 9,500 people, has a presence in more than 100 countries, and possesses a rapidly growing intellectual property estate of approximately 3,600 patents and exclusive licenses. Life Technologies was created by the combination of Invitrogen Corporation and Applied Biosystems Inc. For more information on how we are making a difference please visit our website: www.lifetechnologies.com.
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DNA Helps Reunite Children With Their Families

Escrito por

DNA Helps Reunite Children With Their Families

Of the 600,000-800,000 people trafficked across international borders each year, 50 percent are under 17. It is estimated that by 2010, human trafficking will be the No. 1 crime worldwide.

Arthur Eisenberg, Ph.D., professor and chairman of the department of forensic and investigative Genetics and co-director of the UNT Center for Human Identification at the University of North Texas (UNT) Health Science Center, is on a mission to stop this horrific industry through a $500,000 grant from The Life Technologies Foundation to develop the DNA-PROKIDS Project (Program for Kids Identification with DNA Systems ). PROKIDS is an international humanitarian effort using DNA testing to deter human trafficking of children and help reunite abducted and homeless children with their parents.

Through the DNA-PROKIDS program, DNA samples will be obtained from children associated with human trafficking whether through prostitution, forced labor, militant activities, or illegal adoptions, or homeless children found living on the street. Their DNA profiles will be stored in an international database were they can be searched against the DNA profiles provided by families who have had their children kidnapped or lost.

Eisenberg is collaborating with Jose Lorente, M.D., Ph.D., associate professor of legal and forensic medicine at the University of Granada-Spain, to help establish a worldwide DNA database to help reunite children with their parents and ultimately deter the trafficking of children. Lorente was inspired to establish DNA-PROKIDS to help return children to their parents after seeing countless numbers of children wandering the streets in cities across the world. He wondered, were their families looking for them? Without a way to identify them, it would be impossible to bring them home. Perhaps an international DNA database would help reunite these children with their families.

Lorente chose to collaborate with the UNT Health Science Center because of its reputation as a world-renowned center for human identification. The Center has been responsible for the development of DNA technologies and systems for parentage testing, forensic testing and for the identification of missing persons and human remains.

Eisenberg and Lorente hope all countries throughout the world will develop national databases that will link to an international repository of these DNA profiles. Then DNA- PROKIDS will become a deterrent and prevent criminals from kidnapping and trafficking children, the most vulnerable of all victims.

About the University of North Texas Health Science Center

The University of North Texas Health Science Center comprises the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine, the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, the School of Public Health, and the School of Health Professions. Key research areas include aging and Alzheimer\’s disease, cancer and physical medicine. This year, the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine was named a top 50 medical school in primary care by U.S. News & World Report for the eighth consecutive year. «Fort Worth\’s medical school and more» contributes more than $400 million to the Tarrant County and Texas economies annually. For more information, go to http://www.hsc.unt.edu/

About Life Technologies

Life Technologies Corporation is a global biotechnology tools company dedicated to improving the human condition. Our systems, consumables and services enable researchers to accelerate scientific exploration, driving to discoveries and developments that make life even better. Life Technologies customers do their work across the biological spectrum, working to advance personalized medicine, regenerative science, molecular diagnostics, agricultural and environmental research, and 21st century forensics. Life Technologies had sales of more than $3 billion in 2008, employs approximately 9,500 people, has a presence in more than 100 countries, and possesses a rapidly growing intellectual property estate of approximately 3,600 patents and exclusive licenses. Life Technologies was created by the combination of Invitrogen Corporation and Applied Biosystems Inc. For more information on how we are making a difference please visit our website: www.lifetechnologies.com.
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THE ADHERENCE MECHANISM OF RED ALGAE TO THE ROCKS IS DISCOVERED

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THE ADHERENCE MECHANISM OF RED ALGAE TO THE ROCKS IS DISCOVERED

Geologists of the University of Granada – UGR have successfully described for the first time ever the biological mechanism that explains how calcareous red algae grow on rocky substrates. This is an amazing finding that has allowed us to know the physiology of this type of algae better and explain an existing paradox in the field of Palaeontology: the lack of these algae in sedimentary rocks of fossil cliffs. In particular, an organic layer lying between the red algae that grow on rocks and the stone surface has been discovered.

Geologists of the University of Granada – UGR have successfully described for the first time ever the biological mechanism that explains how calcareous red algae grow on rocky substrates. This is an amazing finding that has allowed us to know the physiology of this type of algae better and explain an existing paradox in the field of Palaeontology: the lack of these algae in sedimentary rocks of fossil cliffs. In particular, an organic layer lying between the red algae that grow on rocks and the stone surface has been discovered. Indeed this is an organic thin layer of polysaccharides, very efficient during the growth and development of algae, but once the algae dies, this layer has no longer adherence and causes algae to come away from the substrate where they live.

Juan Carlos Braga, Antonio Checa and Julio Aguirre, researchers from the palaeography and sedimentary basin group of the Department of Stratigraphy and Palaeontology, have made such discovery after developing two projects funded by the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation. Red algae, organisms that live stuck on shore cliffs which are also abundant in the rocky surfaces of the Spanish beaches, which in some cases, is up to 60% of the total surface. However, such algae are not stuck to their usual substrates in the fossil record. In order to find an answer to this phenomenon, the reason why these algae perish with the pass of time and disappear from the fossil record has now been found out.

’With our research work, it was clear for us that the key could be in the adherence system that rhodophyta use, but it is a topic that no researcher in the world had planned to research into so far, and consequently we are very happy with the results’, Julio Aguirre said.

Red algae are organisms that calcify their skeleton, that is, their cell walls of their cells precipitate calcium carbonate and therefore have an enormous relevance as fossils. They are organisms usually found in any marine fossil basin. There are many different species on sedimentary remains, but they are not stuck on the walls of old cliffs.

The group of geologists has carried out field work in areas by the Almeria shore cliffs, where they took samples of live rhodophyta (specific name of the wide group of red algae) stuck on cliffs and rocks. Later on, they took photos with the electronic microscope and thanks to them they identified the layer that allows algae to adhere to solid surfaces. After isolating it and carrying out basic biological trials, they realised it is a type of highly effective polysaccharide. In addition to explaining how these organisms stuck to fix substrates, this fact also shows their versatility to produce a large number of substances.

Stabilizers and emulgents for nourishment

Red algae make up a group of very interesting organisms due to their characteristics. Some species are used as nourishment and the food industry uses them as additives and stabilizers or emulgents.

There are two groups of calcareous red algae in the nature: unarticulated and articulated. The algae in the first one calcify all their cells, therefore they fossilize very well and last through geological time. The other group is worse represented in the fossil record as it is made up by algae that are ramified in a sort of small bushes representing groups of non-calcified cells. This causes the disarticulation and fragmentation of the remains of articulated algae after they die, which gives rise to a deficient fossil record.

There are two main types of unarticulated red algae, depending on their ecology: those that grow as an algal crust on rocky surfaces and those that develop as rhodoliths. Rhodoliths are algae that grow with a spherical shape around a solid nucleus to which they adhere. Such nucleus can be a piece of shelly rock or a similar substrate. In both cases the adherence mechanism of these red algae identified by scientists of the UGR is valid and implies an enormous advance in the knowledge of the biology and ecology of these living beings.
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Weight Determines Future Cognitive Development Of Children Born Very Premature, Study Suggests

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Weight Determines Future Cognitive Development Of Children Born Very Premature, Study Suggests

Researchers of the Department of Neuroscience and Health Sciences of the University of Almería and Hospital Torrecárdenas are carrying out an assessment of the physical neuropsychological characteristics of children born before 32 weeks\’ gestation or whose weight is lower than 1500 grams (3 lbs. 5 oz.) — very premature.

The main aim of this project, coordinated by Mª Dolores Roldán Tapia, from the UAL, is to accurately define the origin of brain damage, so as to stimulate the affected area early thus causing the adequate cognitive and motric development of the individual.

The most common differences between premature babies and those born after a nine-month pregnancy are mainly related to visoperceptive skills, memory and movement which eventually translate into learning and spatial orientation difficulties. That is why the difficulties that these children have in their cognitive performance and the development of perceptual and executive functions are being studied.

A population sample of 35 very premature children is being taken for this project, together with the same number of healthy children, all of them born between 2000 and 2001, with their parents\’ authorisation. Special attention has been paid to the fact that both the children and their parents have similar educational and social levels, as the stimulation they get in the early stages of their lives has a decisive influence in their later development.

The results obtained so far reveal that the decisive variable for the existence of a reversible or irreversible brain damage is the baby\’s weight at birth, rather than the time of gestation. According to experts, an early stimulation of the individual\’s central nerve system, from birth until his complete cognitive development at 16 years of age, in foetuses whose weight at birth is over 1,500 gr. or who are very premature, will eventually reach ideal cognitive levels. However, this stimulation must be continued throughout the whole development of babies whose weight is lower than 1,500 gr. so that they can get a proper brain maturity.

As a complement to this project, Alemeria-based researchers are developing an epidemiological study so as to set the percentage of very premature children who have brain damage against the total number of children born under the same characteristics between 2000 and 2001.

This study is funded by Fundación para la Investigación Biosanitaria de Andalucía Oriental-Alejandro Otero (FIBAO, Alejandro Otero foundation for bio-health research in eastern Andalusia). Moreover, in collaboration with the University of Granada, experts are developing another line of research whose aim is to determine the existing relationship between visoperceptive skill deficit and the level of reasoning in very premature children.

In the near future, the team of researchers of the University of Almeria will be expanding their research and including new variables that may make a determining brain difference in very premature babies, like for example, the brain difference between babies born in natural multiple births and those with artificial techniques, or the interaction between pre-maturity and bad nutrition.
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Granada Hoy

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Pág. 54: Más de 300 científicos participarán en Granada en un simposio sobre la Antártida
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Ideal

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Pág. 48 y 49: Los lanudos de El Padul
Pág. 55: La UGR diseña un sistema para localizar datos en el Parlamento de Andalucía
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Un estudio advierte que la Unión Europea debe aumentar la vigilancia para evitar el blanqueo de capitales

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Los países miembros de la Unión Europea deben extremar la vigilancia en la lucha contra el blanqueo de capitales, ya que la ampliación de la UE ha supuesto un mayor riesgo para las entidades bancarias que operan en este territorio. Así se desprende de un estudio realizado por el profesor Juan Miguel del Cid Gómez, catedrático del departamento de Economía Financiera y Contabilidad de la Universidad de Granada, y publicado por el Real Instituto Elcano.

En su trabajo, el investigador advierte que muchos de los Estados miembros “no han dispuesto históricamente de procesos rigurosos contra el blanqueo de capitales, y es probable que necesiten un período de adaptación más largo”. Además, el marco regulatorio de algunos de estos países está menos desarrollado, lo que implica que “la aplicación práctica de las normas contra el blanqueo de capitales podría ser menos sistemática”.

Un problema añadido es que muchas de las disposiciones legales de la UE asumen que se han implantado las normas con la misma efectividad en todos los países miembros. “Sin embargo –advierte Del Cid Gómez-, hasta que esto no sea una realidad pueden surgir nuevas oportunidades para que los profesionales del blanqueo accedan al sistema financiero de aquellos países a los que no les ha dado tiempo a implantar o adaptarse a la Directiva por completo, para después transferir los fondos a un centro financiero más acreditado”.

No todos los bancos son iguales
En este sentido, apunta el profesor de la UGR, algunas entidades financieras pueden ser especialmente vulnerables a este riesgo “si sus procedimientos internos están basados en la suposición de que todos los bancos de la UE son de bajo riesgo, de forma que analicen estas relaciones con menor rigor”.

Y es que, además de los cambios realizados en el entramado jurídico de la UE, la ampliación también ha producido cambios en la economía real, como un aumento del comercio entre los países. A su vez, se ha producido un mayor flujo migratorio desde los países de reciente adhesión hacia los países más antiguos. La existencia de mayores volúmenes de transacciones financieras legítimas procedentes y dirigidas a estos nuevos países, que anteriormente se hubieran considerado de mayor riesgo, puede dificultar aún más la identificación de cualquier flujo ilícito de fondos.

El blanqueo de capitales, también denominado lavado de activos, es un concepto sencillo en lo fundamental. El crimen organizado tiene como propósito la generación de beneficios a través de una serie de actividades como la corrupción, el narcotráfico, el contrabando, el tráfico de seres humanos, la prostitución, el soborno y la estafa a través de Internet, entre otras. Los delincuentes necesitan ocultar la procedencia de esas enormes ganancias y dotarlas de una apariencia de legalidad para evitar la confiscación por parte de las autoridades. El blanqueo de capitales es el proceso a través del cual se tratan los ingresos procedentes de una actividad delictiva para disfrazar su origen ilegal. También se considera blanqueo el hecho de ayudar, instigar o aconsejar a alguien para que realice tales acciones.

Dado el alcance transnacional de muchas de las actividades delictivas, “las legislaciones establecen que el delito de blanqueo de capitales se produce aun cuando las actividades que han generado el dinero se realicen en un país distinto a aquel en el que se lavan las ganancias”, concluye Del Cid.

Referencia: Profesor Juan Miguel del Cid Gómez. Departamento de Economía Financiera y Contabilidad de la Universidad de Granada. Tfno: 958 246 227. Correo-e: jmdelcid@ugr.es

EU must increase surveillance to prevent money laundering, study warns

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Member States of the European Union must be extremely vigilant in the fight against money laundering since the EU enlargement has meant a greater risk for banks operating in this territory. This conclusion emerges from a study conducted by professor Juan Miguel del Cid Gómez, from the Department of Financial Economics and Accounting at the University of Granada and published by the Real Instituto Elcano.

Many of the Member States «have not historically provided rigorous processes against money laundering, and it is likely for them to need a longer adjustment period», the researcher warns in his work. Moreover, the regulatory framework of some of these countries is less developed, therefore «practical application of the rules against money laundering could be less systematic.”

An additional problem is that many of the EU’s legal actions assume that rules have been implemented with the same effectiveness in all member countries. «Nevertheless, -Del Cid Gómez warns-, until this becomes a reality, new opportunities can arise for money laundering professionals to enter the financial system in those countries that have not had time to implement or comply with the directive completely, and then to transfer funds to a more accredited financial centre afterwards.»

Not all banks are equal
In this respect, some financial institutions may be particularly vulnerable to this risk, the UGR professor points out, «if their internal procedures are based on the assumption that all EU banks are low risk, so that they analyze their transactions with less rigor».

Apart from changes carried out within the legal framework of the EU, enlargement has also produced changes in the real economy, such as an increase in trade among countries. In turn, an increased flow of migration has taken place from recently acceded countries to older ones. The existence of larger volumes of legitimate financial transactions from and to these new countries, which would have previously been considered high-risk, may further complicate the identification of any illicit flow of funds.

Money laundering, also known as assets laundering, is a fundamentally simple concept. Organized crime is intended to generate profits through a series of activities such as corruption, drug trafficking, smuggling, human trafficking, prostitution, bribery and fraud over the Internet, among others. Criminals need to hide the source of these enormous profits and provide them a veneer of legality to avoid confiscation by the authorities. Money laundering is the process through which profits obtained from criminal activity are treated to disguise their illegal origin. Helping, abetting or advising someone to carry out such actions is also considered money laundering.

Given the transnational reach of many criminal activities, «laws state that the crime of money laundering occurs even when the activities that generated the money take place in a country other than that in which they wash their earnings,» Del Cid concludes.

Reference: Professor Juan Miguel del Cid Gómez, Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, University of Granada. Tel: (+34) 958 246 227. Email: jmdelcid@ugr.es

Une étude avertit que l’Union Européenne doit augmenter la vigilance pour éviter le blanchiment de capitaux

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Les pays membres de l’Union européenne doivent augmenter significativement leur vigilance dans la lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux, vu que l’amplification de l’UE a supposé un risque majeur pour les entités bancaires qui opèrent sur ce territoire. C’est ce qui découle d’une étude réalisée par le professeur Juan Miguel del Cid Gómez, professeur du Département d’Économie Financière et de Comptabilité de l’Université de Grenade, et publiée par le Real Instituto Elcano.

Dans son travail, le chercheur avertit que beaucoup des États membres « n’ont pas disposé historiquement de processus rigoureux contre le blanchiment de capitaux, et il est probable qu’ils aient besoin d’une période d’adaptation plus longue. » En outre, le cadre régulateur de certains parmi ces pays est moins développé, ce qui implique que « l’application pratique des normes contre le blanchiment de capitaux pourrait être moins systématique. »

Un problème ajouté est que beaucoup parmi les dispositions légales de l’UE assument que les normes ont été implantées avec la même effectivité dans tous les pays membres. « Cependant, signale M. Cid Gómez, d’ici à ce que ceci se convertisse en réalité, de nouvelles occasions peuvent se présenter aux professionnels du blanchiment pour accéder au système financier des pays n’ayant pas eu le temps d’implanter ou d’adapter complètement la Directive, puis de transférer plus tard les fonds à un système financier plus crédité. »

Toutes les banques ne sont pas les mêmes
Dans ce sens, signale le professeur de l’UGR, certaines entités financières peuvent être spécialement vulnérables à ce risque, « si leurs procédés internes se basent sur la supposition que toutes les banques de l’UE présentent peu de risques, et donc analysent ces rapports avec moins de rigueur. »

Outre les changements réalisés dans la trame juridique de l’UE, l’amplification a également produit des changements dans l’économie réelle, comme une augmentation du commerce entre les pays. Il s’est produit en même temps un plus grand flux migratoire à partir des pays qui ont récemment adhéré vers les pays plus anciens. L’existence d’un volume majeur de transactions financières légitimes provenant de, et dirigées vers ces nouveaux pays, considérés antérieurement à risque élevé, peut rendre encore plus difficile l’identification de tout flux illicite de fonds.

Le blanchiment de capitaux, également dénommé lavage d’actifs, est un concept fondamentalement simple. Le crime organisé a pour objectif de générer des bénéfices à travers une série d’activités comme la corruption, le trafic de drogues, la contrebande, la traite des êtres humains, la prostitution, la subornation et l’escroquerie à travers Internet, entre autres. Les délinquants ont besoin d’occulter la provenance de leurs énormes bénéfices et de les doter d’une apparence de légalité pour éviter leur confiscation par les autorités. Le blanchiment de capitaux est le processus moyennant lequel on traite les bénéfices provenant d’une activité délictueuse pour déguiser son origine illégale. Est également considéré blanchiment le fait d’aider, d’inciter ou de conseiller quelqu’un qui réalise de telles actions.

Étant donnée la portée internationale de nombre d’activités délictueuses, « les législations établissent que le délit de blanchiment de capitaux se produit même lorsque les activités qui ont généré l’argent se réalisent dans un pays différent à celui où les gains sont lavés. », a signalé M. Cid.

Référence : Prof. Juan Miguel Cid Gómez. Département d’Économie Financière et de Comptabilité de l’Université de Grenade. Tél. : 958 246227 ; courriel : jmdelcid@ugr.es

Más de 300 científicos de todo el mundo participarán en el Primer Simposium sobre la Antártida y la evolución climática

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Granada acogerá del 7 al 11 de septiembre el Primer Simposium sobre la Antártida y la evolución climática, un encuentro organizado por el Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (CSIC-Universidad de Granada) y que tendrá lugar en el Parque de las Ciencias.

A este Simposium asistirán más de 300 científicos de todo el mundo, y traerá hasta Granada a los mayores especialistas en diferentes campos de investigación, sobre la formación y evolución del Casquete de Hielos de la Antártida y el paleoclima (comunidades geológicas, geofísicas, biológicas, paleoceaonográficas, del hielo, etc.) en la Antártida.

Registros del paleoclima
Los asistentes a este encuentro de primer nivel analizarán durante 5 días cómo estas comunidades científicas pueden actuar recíprocamente para obtener la mayor parte de registros del paleoclima. El Simposium estará organizado en sesiones orales por la mañana, seguido de sesiones temáticas, desgloses ‘ad hoc’, y reuniones de grupos de trabajo por la tarde.

Para animar tanto la interacción como los como posibles debates, el tiempo asignado para las sesiones orales será limitado. La mayor parte de las contribuciones de esta reunión serán expuestas en pósters que estarán instalados en el edificio Macroscopio del Parque de las Ciencias.

Más información en la página Web: www.acegranada2009.com

Referencia: Carlota Escutia. Presidenta del Comité Organizador. cescutia@ugr.es. Móvil: 649 461306.
Borja González Aparicio. Secretaría Técnica. bgonzalez@fase20.com. Móvil: 699 624387

Brazos abajo

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Brazos abajo

TENGO delante el librito; Un árbol en lugar de una estatua, se titula. Ese que en febrero, hace ya seis meses, editamos y presentamos un grupo de amigos para reclamar al Ayuntamiento que quitara la estatua de la Plaza de Bibataubín, la estatua que homenajea a Primo de Rivera y más que a él, al fascismo. Esa estatua sombría, tétrica, la de los brazos en alto y las águilas, que afea la ciudad. Esa estatua sobre la que oí exclamar a un joven sevillano desconocido en una reunión pública: ¿¡cómo es posible que Granada tenga una estatua así en pleno centro!?

Pocos días después de la presentación del libro, Lola Ruiz, la concejala de Izquierda Unida, presentó una moción en un Pleno del Ayuntamiento reclamando lo mismo que nosotros y aunque tuvo el apoyo del grupo socialista, el proyecto fracasó: el grupo municipal del Partido Popular se opuso, alegando, como razón para su negativa, que el monumento posee valor artístico y patrimonial.

En días recientes, el asunto de la estatua ha vuelto a ocupar páginas en las noticias de actualidad. La Abogacía del Estado ha presentado un recurso contra el Ayuntamiento de Granada por incumplir la Ley de la Memoria Histórica al no retirar la estatua de la plaza pública. Por su parte, la Asociación para la Recuperación de la Memoria Histórica de Granada también ha demandado al Ayuntamiento. La Asociación precisa que la colocación del monumento en 1975 vulneró el propio derecho administrativo franquista: no contó con la resolución administrativa necesaria que autorizara su colocación. La ARMH alega además que el monumento no ha sido considerado por la Delegación de Cultura de la Junta un Bien de Interés Cultural, a pesar de encontrarse en una plaza que sí posee esta denominación. Por último, la Asociación ha presentado informes de dos profesores de la Universidad de Granada, especialistas en Arte, que certifican el nulo valor artístico del monumento.

Creo que el Ayuntamiento de Granada está aún a tiempo de rectificar su postura. Y de retirar la estatua al fascismo que oscurece la Plaza de Bibataubín y la ciudad. Debería hacerlo de motu proprio, antes que aparezcan las resoluciones judiciales obligándolo. Sería un modo de sanear su imagen en este oscuro tema. Aunque, si todavía sigue empeñado en no hacerlo, podría al menos optar por seguir la propuesta de Juan Andrés García Román. En «Qué hacer con unas manos», su poema del librito citado, el poeta se inclinaba por el reciclaje: pintar la estatua, añadirle manos o dedos; en fin, desacralizarla, convertirla en otra.
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García Montero abre los cursos de Baeza con el «patriotismo cívico» de Machado

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García Montero abre los cursos de Baeza con el «patriotismo cívico» de Machado

Para celebrar el trigésimo aniversario de «el regreso de la vida universitaria a Baeza», la Sede Antonio Machado de la UNIA miró hacia sí, hacia su razón de ser. y eligió para ello a dos poetas, uno de quien tomó el nombre y el sentido y otro para que entresacara sus «lecciones», esa «estirpe machadiana» que va más allá de la creación poética, de la estética, y entronca con el compromiso social e histórico, que hace necesario estudiar al hombre, y formarlo, ya que «la libertad de expresión no es sólo decir lo que pensamos sino también pensar lo que decimos».
Así lo subrayó el catedrático de Literatura Española de la Universidad de Granada, Luis García Montero, vinculado a Baeza «de muchas maneras» y que en la inauguración de los cursos de verano ofreció sus \’Lecciones de Antonio Machado\’, entre ellas ese «patriotismo cívico», ese compromiso social: «La vida es una conversación y nos reconocemos como seres sociales. No hay verdades al margen de la historia», dijo.
García Montero arrancó con \’Retratos\’: «Y al cabo, nada os debo; debéisme cuanto he escrito. /A mi trabajo acudo, con mi dinero pago /el traje que me cubre y la mansión que habitó, /el pan que me alimenta y el lecho en donde yago/», que según apuntó encierra el orgullo cívico, la austeridad moral y cómo con el trabajo creía Machado que era posible mejorar España.
El poeta granadino habló sin tapujos y pensando lo que iba a decir. Dejó caer, no sin malicia, que pertenece a una tradición que se paga los trajes y que después de cumplir los cincuenta ha conseguido que la amistad sea la única autoridad que mande en su vida. Y recordó la emoción que le produjo el viaje que en febrero hizo a Collioure con su amigo, el poeta Ángel González – acaba de publicar su biografía novelada \’Mañana no será lo que dios quiera\’ -, «un niño republicano» que, como «derrotado», se refugió en la obra de Juan Ramón Jiménez, primero, y en la Antonio Machado, después, y que dedicó su vida a recuperar el patriotismo cívico que les fue arrebatado.
Republicano como Machado, recalcó García Montero, «lo más parecido a un poeta nacional» en cuanto a que hay expresiones y estrofas machadianas de uso cotidianos, en el lenguaje popular, en canciones y hasta en discursos de autoridades, «aunque a veces puedan pasar desapercibidas sus palabras familiares».
O malinterpretado, como cuando hablaba de las dos españas o critica la política, cuando en realidad Machado criticaba la política oficial de la Restauración, «la de caciques y curas, liberales y conservadores, las dos caras de la misma moneda», dijo el poeta granadino.
García Montero mencionó el «alma en borrador siempre» de Mairena, leyó a Bécquer, aludió a Lorca y sobre todo defendió la vigencia de las «lecciones cívicas» de Machado, su apuesta por la transformación histórica desde otra sentimentalidad, desde otra educación. Fue la primera lección de los cursos de verano de 2009 de la Sede Antonio Machado de Baeza, que cumplen treinta años.
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