Anti-Fascist Lawyer Wins 2024 Mandela Prize for Decades of Justice Work
Two years ago, António Garcia Pereira was awarded the 2024 Nelson Mandela Prize by ProPública for his work advocating for society's most vulnerable. Recently, he filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office calling for the dissolution of the far-right Chega party, alleging it violates the Constitution as a neofascist organization. A vocal critic of the government's proposed labor reforms, Garcia Pereira warns: "These measures are built on precarious work, low wages, and easier dismissals. The country will lose out because of this."
Garcia Pereira is a lawyer and a longtime anti-fascist activist. With a PhD in labor law, he was a university professor whose life story intertwines academia with civic struggle.
Given the current state of affairs—amid clashes between the government, employers, and workers' unions—this podcast raises pressing questions: When we talk today about "flexibility,""modernization," and "competitiveness," are we truly discussing progress—or a regression to darker times?
How can we adapt to changing times without undermining labor rights and workers' protections? How can we embrace innovation without normalizing exploitation, abandonment, and precarity? How can we harness artificial intelligence, automation, and new production models without reducing workers to disposable, low-value cogs—unprotected, unshielded, and always the weakest link in the economic chain?
Is a capitalism with boundaries possible? A market that acknowledges not everything can be bought, outsourced, or accelerated? Or will the dominant logic continue to measure value solely by quarterly profits, ignoring the cost to human dignity and the quality of life for the Portuguese people? In the push for greater productivity, who truly benefits—and who gains the most?
This leads to another critical question: When labor loses rights, what does democracy lose? When fear enters the workplace, doesn't it also seep into citizenship? And if the future is inevitably more liberal and more automated, how can we ensure fair rules so Portuguese workers can still dream of a dignified, stable life—with a home, a family, and a future?
Throughout his career, António Garcia Pereira has secured numerous landmark legal victories and has been honored with multiple awards and distinctions.
The most recent was the 2024 Nelson Mandela Prize, awarded by ProPública for his decades-long advocacy for the vulnerable and his defense of citizens' rights. He donated the €10,000 prize money to the Prisoners' Support Association, SOS Racism, and the workers' committee of the Dia supermarket chain. Garcia Pereira has made no secret of his desire for a proletarian revolution and the eradication of the far right.
One of his recent victories was the conviction of neo-Nazi activist Mário Machado, who received a two-year and ten-month prison sentence for inciting hatred on social media against left-wing women, including Renata Cambra.
More recently, Garcia Pereira filed a criminal complaint with the Public Prosecutor's Office, demanding the dissolution of Chega for violating the Constitution, alleging it is a neofascist party with "repeated public expressions of a pattern of discrimination"—xenophobic and racist in nature. The Prosecutor's Office has yet to comment on the case.
His anti-fascist activism traces back to the authoritarian Estado Novo regime, rooted in student protests. The murder of young student Ribeiro Santos on October 12, 1972, propelled him into a lifelong political commitment that lasted until 2015—a period in which he even ran for president.
What criticisms does he level today at the right in power and the opposition left?
And what does he envision for the future of Portugal—and the world?
Beyond the official biography, there are lesser-known details: Garcia Pereira was a football and handball player for many years. He also practiced freediving and spearfishing for roughly 35 years, from the age of 11 to 46.
His love for the sea came from his grandfather, Pestana—a lawyer from the island of Madeira, a staunch republican, and the second-to-last finance minister before Salazar. A revolutionary figure, Pestana was imprisoned, exiled, and sent to Porto Santo, then a place of banishment.
A man of broad, universal knowledge, he was equally versed in politics, fishing, and agriculture, and he fought tirelessly for freedom. One of Garcia Pereira's greatest inspirations.
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