In the Hollywood version of courage, the hero is unafraid; he can thus act without hesitation. But a person who is unafraid cannot be considered courageous. They have no need to be courageous. In real life, courageous people are frightened. They hesitate. They calculate the risks and act not because they are fearless, but because they believe in a cause greater than themselves.
Such is the case with the 2026 Westminster Free Speech Prize winners. All three are Brazilian: Congressman Marcel Van Hattem and investigative journalists Eli Vieira and David Ágape. You can see me interview the three of them in the video above, after giving them the award, which comes with $25,000, in London in June.
The three men are among the most important advocates of free speech in the world, not just in Brazil, and have paid a heavy price for their courage, namely the threat of prison.
