Few thinkers of the contemporary era have so persistently and courageously challenged the foundations of Western intellectual dominance as Boaventura de Sousa Santos.

The presidential elections this coming October in Brazil (currently in the eye of the storm) are an internal matter for the country, and it is up to Brazilians alone to decide who will be the next president. In theory, that is how it should be, and practice should reflect it, but unfortunately it does not. This could have dramatic consequences for the future of democracy in Brazil and around the world.

The second phase is characterized by more intense imperial interference against the democratic institutions of target countries, combining institutional manipulation with extra-institutional actions—whether violent or not—that involve gross violations of international law.