Editorial
Libertad y Progreso turns 10 and celebrates it with the launch of a new institutional image. 
Libertad y Progreso was established on May 17, 2011, when Manuel Solanet, Aldo Abram, and Agustín Etchebarne expressed their willingness to consider a merger between Futuro Argentino, CIIMA, and Foro Republicano. Their objective was the creation of a center for critical thinking and applied research that would seek to solve the problems of citizens, promoting the values and principles of a Federal Representative Republic.
The role of Libertad y Progreso is to spread the importance of respecting the rights and institutions established by our Constitution to achieve greater opportunities for progress for all Argentines. Today we celebrate with a new institutional image that seeks to reflect renewal without losing its essence. Soon after LyP was founded, an Academic Council was established. It was headed by Dr. Alberto Benegas Lynch and made up of experts in different branches of knowledge.
Benegas Lynch recalled this moment by saying “Libertad y Progreso emerged from the union of three institutions whose leaders were three people of great intellectual honesty, moral integrity, nobility of spirit and teaching capacity: Agustín Etchebarne, Manuel Solanet, and Aldo Abram. Personally, I have been a friend of that famous shortlist for a long time but I still remember my first contact with what would be Libertad y Progreso as if it were the first time”. The creation of concrete and current public policies that protect republican institutions and disseminate the ideas of Liberty was the center of life at Libertad y Progreso. The need to grapple with this task not only continues, but it is also more imperative than ever. The attacks of those who exercise power over the freedoms and rights of the people can be seen daily in every aspect of the life of Argentines. Argentina’s institutional decline has deepened and is evident in numerous international indicators, specifically in the annual publications of the Institutional Quality Index (the new edition of which will be released on May 19).
In addition, the advancement of sectors that seek the dissolution of the republican form of government is no longer a threat but a reality. For this reason, it is necessary for the Foundation to generate awareness about the damage that occurs when neglecting the ideas that made this country a world power and that were embodied in the National Constitution of 1853. This is why the Foundation invites all those who wish to be protagonists in the construction of an Argentina that will resume the path of growth, progress and as our preamble states, to seek to ensure the benefits of freedom, for us, for our posterity, and for all the people of the world who want to live on Argentine soil.
ALBERTO BENEGAS LYNCH – President of our academic council. “Libertad y Progreso had some notable achievements over this last decade, many of which have transcended Argentina. Among them, we must note the way in which it helped the ideas of liberty to take hold, popularising them among young people of very different backgrounds. Others have taken the example of Libertad y Progreso and established centers and foundations with the same task, multiplying the results. Even a few Argentine and foreign journalists who were originally left-wingers mutated their recipes in the direction of the ideology of freedom.”
DIANA MONDINO – Member of our academic council.
“If we seek progress, we must take care of our freedoms. Libertad y Progreso is showing us the path to develop as a country: taking responsibility for our freedom to grow. This is easy to say but harder to maintain. That’s precisely why we need this foundation, that insists on guiding us through the quickest and most effective road.”
EDGARDO ZABLOTSKY – Member of our academic council.
“The price of freedom is its eternal vigilance. Thus, the tireless work Libertad y Progreso has done over this last decade has been a fundamental contribution to the defense of republican values. Work exemplified, for example, in the book that collects its public policy proposals, as seen even in the title: “Growing Freely”.
MARCOS HILDING OHLSSON – Frequent collaborator.
I have been linked to Libertad y Progreso since the beginning, having had the privilege of investigating and writing to contribute to an open society. I can attest to the excellent professional team and its human quality, which fills an important role in society with conviction, passion, and responsibility. Both its academic work and the dissemination of the ideas of freedom are highly valuable, with creative videos and messages reaching a wide public. We can highlight the impact that the foundation has had in the training of thousands of people with its online talks and its impact on social media, as well as on traditional media. Without a doubt, Libertad y Progreso is a key factor in the dissemination of the ideas of freedom.
