Manifesto for the Immediate Freedom of Student Mateus Galdino

The Committee for the Freedom of Student Mateus Galdino has released a manifesto denouncing the situation of Mateus Galdino, which can be signed and supported through a link. This committee emerged in response to the arrest of Mateus on January 28, a Computer Engineering student at UFPE, who is being held arbitrarily and illegally in Abreu e Lima, Pernambuco. His arrest was due to his participation in an anti-imperialist protest against the US invasion of Venezuela, which took place on January 3, 2026, and resulted in the deaths of over a hundred people and the kidnapping of President Nicolás Maduro and his wife.

The protest in Recife, which gathered various popular organizations and students, was violently repressed by the Pernambuco Military Police, on which we have previously reported. The police used live ammunition, leaving several injured, including a journalist and a student. Despite the resistance of the protesters, who prevented more activists from being arrested, the repression was severe.

After the protest, Mateus and another student were arrested more than a kilometer away from the scene. During his detention, Mateus was assaulted and has injuries that have not yet been treated. In his custody hearing, despite having no evidence against him and no criminal record, Judge Ane de Sena Lins denied his release, supporting a charge of “intentional homicide,” clearly seen as political persecution.

Mateus was imprisoned in the Professor Everardo Luna Observation and Classification Center (COTEL), known for its abuses and inhumane conditions. The accusation against him was based solely on contradictory testimonies from the police, without concrete evidence. The Public Ministry requested his release, indicating that there were no grounds to keep him in prison, but Judge Danielle Christine Silva Melo Burichel upheld her decision, alleging that his freedom could threaten public order.

Mateus’s lawyers have denounced the lack of solid reasons for his detention, stating that the judicial decision lacks legal basis and is based on generic presumptions about his “dangerousness.” Despite the Public Ministry recognizing the inconsistency of the police testimonies, the judge insists on his imprisonment.

Mateus’s situation has sparked an intense support campaign, with the participation of popular and student organizations demanding his release. These events reflect not only the repression against activists but also the political tensions in Brazil, highlighting the criminalization of protest and the defense of human rights in a context of growing authoritarianism. The demand for Mateus’s release is a call to defend democracy and the anti-imperialist struggle in Latin America.

You can read the full manifesto here: