Fiocruz names nine former AI‑5‑censored scientists as emeritus researchers

On 5 August 2024, Brazil’s Fundação Oswaldo Cruz (Fiocruz) awarded the title of researcher emeritus to nine scientists whose political rights were stripped in 1970 under the military regime’s AI‑5 decree, an episode known as the Massacre of Manguinhos. The ceremony took place on the steps of the Castelo Mourisco at Fiocruz’s Rio de Janeiro campus during the National Health Day celebrations.

The honorees – Augusto Cid de Mello Perissé, Tito Arcoverde de Albuquerque Cavalcanti, Haity Moussatché, Fernando Braga Ubatuba, Moacyr Vaz de Andrade, Hugo de Souza Lopes, Masao Goto, Sebastião José de Oliveira and Domingos Arthur Machado Filho – were reinstated to the institute in 1986 after Brazil’s transition to democracy. Fiocruz president Mario Moreira said the tribute marks a “strong political and symbolic act” that reinforces the link between science and democratic values, warning against contemporary “fake news” and autocratic threats.