The Latin American Association of Sociology expressed concern about the “multiplication” of the “censorship, surveillance, criminalization and co -optation of sociological work and those who exercise it with commitment and public vocation.” The UCV professors association also rejected the claims against its members Edgardo Lander and Francisco Javier Velasco
The Latin American Association of Sociology rejected “criminalization” against a group of Venezuelan academics, after publicly media publications that indicate them as “political interference instruments.”
In a Published article by National Radio of Venezuela (RNV), sociologists were accused Alexandra Martínez, Emiliano Terán Mantovani, Edgardo Lander, Santiago Arconada and the anthropologist Francisco Javier Velasco to operate under an “academic and environmentalist facade” to act “as instruments of political interference and international articulation against the Venezuelan state.”
“These facts are enrolled in a broader repressive escalation that is reflected in the persecution of progressive and left movements, as could be observed in recent days with the detention of the human rights activist Martha Lía Lía Grajales, recently released under precautionary measures,” said the association in A statement.
They also pointed out these publications as a “defamation campaign”, since “accusing their work of being part of a foreign intervention strategy not only constitutes a falsehood, but also an attack on research autonomy and the right to dissent.”
*Also read: FACES UCV rejects “campaign” against academics after official media publications
The Latin American Association of Sociology also expressed concern about the “multiplication” of the attempts of “censorship, surveillance, criminalization and co -optation of sociological work and those who exercise it with commitment and public vocation.”
Therefore, they called on the international academic community to “remain firm before this offensive”, through the defense of academic freedom, university autonomy and the right to think critically.
Like the Deanery of the Faculty of Economic and Social Sciences and the School of Sociology of the Central University of Venezuela and CENDES itself, the Association of Professors of the UCV also rejected the statements against its members Edgardo Lander and Francisco Javier Velasco.
“The contributions of Venezuelan teachers and researchers should be seen by government authorities as contributions to clarifying problems and their possible solutions,” they said.
Communicated Board of Directors of the APUCV rejecting attacks against academics of the #UCV#Profesores #Venezuela #academy pic.twitter.com/sp7dske1ie
– APUCV (@apucv) August 16, 2025
*Journalism in Venezuela is exercised in a hostile environment for the press with dozens of legal instrumentsUses for the punishment of the word, especially the laws “against hate”, “against fascism” and “against blocking.” This content was written taking into consideration the threats and limits that, consequently, have been imposed on the dissemination of information from within the country.
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