Agustin Bernabe Navarro grew up learning from Marxist thinkers in a socialist education system in Latin America. Then he read Ayn Rand’s “Atlas Shrugged” and realized that the story was real. People were living the story in Latin America. After reading this book, he felt a moral obligation to help his country move towards more liberty and human prosperity. This motivated him to improve his understanding of Austrian Economics and discuss those ideas on a radio show called Rompiendo la Siesta. It wasn’t long before the radio owner fired him for promoting those ideas, and yet, Agustin became even more resolute in his mission to promote freedom.
Agustin became involved with EsLibertad Argentina in 2016, and in these two years, he has already built a network of more than 50 volunteers in his hometown of San Miguel de Tucuman. “This is a difficult undertaking,” Agustin says, “because we have to lay the foundation in a community that isn’t particularly receptive to free-market ideas. We had to overcome that challenge before we could spread the ideas throughout the community.”
It is, therefore, no surprise that one of Agustin’s proudest achievements is that he established Eslibertad in his hometown. He created a community of young people promoting freedom where such ideas were not previously discussed. Agustin has since organized many events, including Libersario, an academic event celebrating Eslibertad’s one-year anniversary in his city, two leadership fora in Mendoza and Santa Fe (cities he did not know) and a conference with Javier Milei, a prominent Argentian economist, in coalition with the Naumann Foundation. This event had 400 attendees.
Agustin has been involved with EsLibertad for only two years, and he has already achieved so much. He attributes this progress to the training and resources he received through EsLibertad, “Above all, Eslibertad helped me with networking. I now understand the art of public relations like how to get good speakers for events and other activities. Eslibertad’s staff focuses on empowering their leaders to achieve their greatest potential. I also learned how to use email marketing to keep leaders engaged, and other digital skills like designing monthly webinars.”
Agustin is studying at the Universidad del Norte Santo Tomás de Aquino (UNSTA) and is the Academic Director for Students For Liberty in Latin America. He is a brilliant thinker who is developing into a formidable public intellectual dedicated to promoting freedom and prosperity in Latin America. He works hard to highlight Latin American thinkers, a strategy that helps build trust with his audience. Recently, Agustin was admitted as a speaker at the International Congress of Austrian School of Economics from Bases Foundation, where he presented his research on the ideas of Juan Bautista Alberdi – one of the key free-market thinkers in Latin America. “It was an epic moment given that when I first went to the Congress two years ago, I was a listener in the audience. This time, I stood proudly as the Academic Director of Students For Liberty in Latin America. It was a moment of great emotion and pride. People were attentive, and my asked so many questions that after my time was up, a group of people waited at the exit to continue asking me questions.”
It is truly incredible that at such a young age, Agustin has already presented his work among other well-known pro-liberty intellectuals such as Gabriel Zanotti, Warren Orbaugh, Stephen Hicks and Alejandro Salter. Augustin believes he would not have achieved success without the support of EsLibertad, “Eslibertad did a lot for my personal and professional growth. They believed in my leadership and that I could launch Eslibertad in Tucumán. I started out being the only coordinator in my city, and today, I prepare academic initiatives for all leaders in Latin America! I will continue to be involved with this organization to form the new generation of leaders for the freedom needed in Latin America.”