By LUIS FELIPE MIGUEL*
The fight against Andifes and the transformation, in the Bolsonaro government, of federal universities into conflicted spaces, crossed by persecutions
Interveners appointed by Bolsonaro created a new association of “rectors” to combat “leftist hegemony” at Andifes [National Association of Directors of Federal Institutions of Higher Education].
It's not folkloric. Andifes plays an essential role in the midfield with the Ministry of Education, in defining the distribution of resources among federal higher education institutions.
With the ministry in the hands of an amoral opportunist, dedicated to the destruction of Brazilian education, it is easy to see that the formation of the new association – self-named AFEBRAS – is a combined move, in order to disrupt the process and expand the room for maneuver for retaliation against the Universities that remain under legitimate management.
We are very responsible for this situation, starting with the democratic governments that did not bother to abolish the triple list, believing that it would remain forever as a ritual devoid of effectiveness.
We are also responsible for all of us, in the Universities, who were not able to present a strong resistance to these abuses. Sometimes wounds from internal electoral processes spoke louder. Sometimes, it was just cowardice. In general, solidarity between institutions has failed, as if each attack concerned only the one affected.
The Federal Supreme Court (STF) is responsible, which – Gilmar Mendes at the head – preferred to hand over Universities as a bargaining chip, in one of the moments when it sought an “accommodation”, contrary to the Constitution, democracy and rights, with the Bolsonarism.
Interveners are not simply people with reactionary views. They were willing to participate in a deliberate process of destruction of their Universities, transformed into conflicted spaces, crossed by persecutions, the opposite of what is necessary for teaching, learning and research.
I imagine that a good part of his accomplices, those who accepted offices and positions of power, were moved not by conviction, but by simple opportunism. Soon, if the winds change as I hope they do, they will be “reinventing” themselves and appearing as Democrats, even Progressives. It is good to remember their names.
* Luis Felipe Miguel He is a professor at the Institute of Political Science at UnB. Author, among other books, of The collapse of democracy in Brazil (Popular Expression).
Originally published on the Facebook from the author.