On May 15, 2019, thousands of scientists, educators, and students in more than 200 cities around Brazil swamped the streets to protest cuts in education and research funding.
Officials in President Jair Bolsonaro’s government stated on May 1 that they are slashing university funding by 30 percent, a move that is said to be motivated by complaints about partisan activities on campuses.
The move could affect nearly 300 public universities, faculties, and other educational institutes, according to a 2017 higher education census. University officials said the cuts would also likely affect scholarships, utility services, and maintenance.
Several public universities and some private institutions canceled classes to allow staff and students to join the demonstrations against the cuts.
Although there is no official count, organizers estimated the marches attracted hundreds of thousands of people in major cities. Bolsonaro, unsurprisingly, did not react well to the first wave of mass protests against him. While visiting Dallas, Texas, the president called the demonstrators “useful idiots and imbeciles,” who were being manipulated by the “smarthead minority” that controls federal universities. He further disqualified them by saying they don’t even know “the formula of water.”
University employees are also alarmed by a decree that gives Bolsonaro’s administration new powers to control the selection of senior administrators in the federal university system. In a decree published on May 15, the executive branch will gain veto nominations for university authorities, a decision that destroys in practice the autonomy that Brazilian public universities have to exercise independent control over their day-to-day operations and curriculum.
In addition to orchestrating the cuts, Bolsonaro has been one of the biggest supporters of the School Without Party—a conservative movement aimed against what it considers the spreading of left-leaning thinking in schools and universities.
In a recent tweet Bolsonaro stated that funding for sociology and philosophy courses will be eliminated.
Antonio Claudio, dean of Fluminense Federal University, said on Thursday that the move compromises universities’ ability to do academic research.
“It was already very difficult,” Claudio said, mentioning the recently announced 30 percent budget cut for all federal universities in the country. According to Claudio, 95 percent of Brazil’s academic investigations are carried out with the help of masters and PhD students. “The real motor of research is our postgraduate students,” he said from Brasilia, where he was to meet with education officials.
We join academic, intellectual, and political leaders in Brazil and other regions to decry this attack on the country’s universities in the name of Bolsonaro’s wider aggressive, anti progressive, and fascistic agenda.
We call upon all European governments, the US Department of State, international organizations, university presidents, academic and professional associations, student groups, and individuals devoted to the promotion and defense of human rights to protest and condemn these populist attacks on the pillars of Brazil’s democracy and education system.
We stand in solidarity with the students and faculty of Brazilian universities.
Please send appeals to the following:
Michael R. Pompeo
United States Secretary of State
Office of Foreign Missions
U.S. Department of State
2201 C Street NW
Washington, DC 20520 USA
Email: OFMInfo@state.gov
P. Michael McKinley
Ambassador of the United States to Brazil
Embassy of the United States to Brazil
Rua Henri Dunant
500 Chácara Santo Antônio
São Paulo- SP, 04709-110
Brazil
Fax: +55 11 5181 8730
Kishore Singh
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10, Switzerland
Email: sreducation@ohchr.org
David Kaye
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and
protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 Geneva 10
Switzerland
Fax: +41 22 917 9006
Email: freedex@ohchr.org
Federica Mogherini
High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security
Policy
European Commission
Rue de la Loi / Wetstraat 200
1049 Brussels
Belgium
Thorbjørn Jagland
Secretary General of the Council of Europe
Council of Europe
Avenue de l'Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Fax: + 33 3 88 41 27 99
Philippe Boillat
Directorate General Human Rights and Rule of Law
Council of Europe
Avenue de l'Europe
F-67075 Strasbourg Cedex
France
Fax: + 33 3 88 41 27 99