Brazil: Students Prevent Far Right Invasion of the University

Featured image: student anti-fascist mobilization at the UnB. Source: A Nova Democracia.

According to A Nova Democracia, students from the National University of Brasilia (UnB) successfully repelled, for the second time, an attempt of invasion by far-right groups. The first attempt occurred on March 24, and the second on April 4. The invaders, organized through WhatsApp groups, expressed intentions to “hit the reds” to “take back” the university and discussed the use of pepper spray and stun guns.

In response to this threat, the students quickly mobilized, organizing a “counterattack” to defend the university. The mobilization included various forces from the student movement, political parties, organizations, and professors, who came together to protect the campus from the “green chickens.” The student’s pressure led the far-right groups to cancel their event at UnB and move to the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District, where they had the protection of authorities and the Military Police (MP). This event was permitted by the MP itself and the Secretariat of State for Public Security of the Federal District in light of the “violent actions of leftist students.”

During the counterattack, Wilker Leão, a far-right “YouTuber” and suspended student from UnB, attempted to meet with his supporters in the campus library. Students reported that his followers infiltrated among them, provoking and trying to create situations that would support the YouTuber’s narrative of persecution. UnB decided to suspend Leão for an additional 60 days due to accusations of leaking student data and inciting violence.

Despite the cancellation of the far-right event, which was mostly composed of people from outside UnB, students maintained their protest, marching through the building with slogans such as “fascists out from UnB” and “Once again, the chickens flee.” Around 100 people gathered at UnB, while about 30 far-right militants congregated at the Legislative Chamber of the Federal District (CLDF) with Deputy Thiago Manzoni, who stated that they would work to free education in the Federal District from the “leftist thought’s hegemony.”

During the protest, students denounced how Luiz Inácio’s government has given more space to the far right by allying himself with the Bolsonarist center and the latifundium, which are the economic and political base of the far right in Brazil. They also emphasized the importance of the Agrarian Revolution in the struggle against fascism in the countryside and stated that it is the students’ responsibility to combat fascism in universities as part of the ongoing revolutionary process in the country.

At the end of an event on March 24, students burned a flag of Israel and another of the United States showing solidarity with the Palestinian people’s struggle, chanting slogans such as “Out with from Palestinian lands” and “Enough of massacres, Military Police in the favela, Israel in Palestine!” The students declared that “whenever necessary, we will make the ‘green chickens’ fly.”

The burning of flags caused an uproar among the far right, including politicians and Zionist organizations that called for punishment from the university. Among others, Victor Jansen, who made a poster in support of Palestine for the Coletivo de Base – Honestino Guimarães, but he linked the Palestinian resistance with “terrorism.”

The Military Police of the Federal District announced that they would act preventively on campus, establishing a “crisis cabinet” to monitor the situation.