Boaventura de Sousa Santos breaks his silence after two years of controversy

In a context marked by defamation and public ridicule, Boaventura de Sousa Santos breaks his silence after two years of controversy. In an interview with CNN on March 30, 2025, he addressed for the first time on television the accusations that have tarnished his reputation and affected his health, without having had the opportunity to adequately defend himself in the institutional and judicial spheres. What began with a defamatory article, later withdrawn due to its lack of scientific rigor and violation of English defamation law, turned into a media campaign targeting him as the target of an alleged ideological score-settling within the Center for Social Studies (CES).

Boaventura maintains that he never had the opportunity to present his version of events either to the CES or to the judicial authorities. He claims that the allegations against him lack evidence and that the institutions' refusal to provide him with documentation regarding the accusations has hindered his right to defense. In response, he has taken legal action to restore his reputation and dismantle what he describes as a maneuver of political and intellectual silencing. The sociologist argues that the CES's internal process was biased and that the media condemnation was orchestrated for purposes beyond the pursuit of justice.

With this interview, he seeks to reclaim his voice and confront what he considers to be the exploitation of the accusations against him to remove him from the CES and delegitimize his intellectual legacy.

You can watch the full interview here.