About Us

Fundación Internacional Bases is an institution that thinks globally and acts locally. Bases participate in the most critical discussions on individual liberties and the market economy. We do not seek to be just another voice but to be an active part of a fundamental change that will bring about the triumph of freedom, the passage to a society of responsible individuals, the opening of the economy, and the diminishing of the role of government in our lives. For this, we actively cooperate with think tanks, individuals, educational institutions, new media people, and all those who want complete freedom.  

Mission

The primary mission of the Fundación Internacional Bases is to generate a groundswell of pro-freedom opinion and thus drive reforms. To this end, the Foundation empowers individuals, organizes events, conducts campaigns, and produces studies.

Vision

Fundación Internacional Bases is inspired by Juan Bautista Alberdi’s masterpiece Bases and Starting Points for the Organization of the Republic, to which it owes its name. It is our deepest wish that Argentina and Latin America resume the path pointed out by Alberdi to achieve freedom and greater prosperity, both materially and culturally. Our commitment is only to ideas that can bring progress to our societies.

 

Our Beginnings

Since 2004, the year it was established, Fundación Internacional Bases (at that time under the name of Fundación Bases) has organized different activities with limited resources, a lot of effort, and even more enthusiasm.
Our inaugural event was an international conference on the philosophy of Karl Popper. Two of his direct disciples were among the participants.
Mark A. Notturno, American, compiler of «The Myth of the Common Frame» and author of several works on Popperian philosophy.
David Miller, British, also a close collaborator of the Viennese philosopher and author of the book «Critical rationalism: A restatement and defense.»
They were joined, also as a guest speaker, by Canadian Fred Eidlin.
For their part, many academics and scholars from all over the Spanish-speaking world participated in the conference.
In retrospect, it was a sign that we started our activities with such an event. It would not be the last time we would sail in international waters.

 

Early Achievements

Since 2006, Fundación Internacional Bases has been the organizer of the International Congress «The Austrian School of Economics in the 21st Century».
This biannual conference, already a tradition and awaited by the Spanish-speaking Austrian academic community, has brought to Rosario great speakers of this school of thought. Its various editions have summoned participants from Latin America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania.
So many countries represented in an event dedicated to an economic school that many consider a minority, and in a part of the world as far away from the major centers as Rosario, it is an achievement that fills us with pride.
We are also the organizers of the Economics and Social Sciences Online Program. This one-year program, with teachers from Argentina and the rest of the world, aims to provide the interested public with a reflection on theoretical or practical issues from a liberal point of view.
Most importantly, young people from each and every country in the Americas have participated in the program. People from Europe and Asia are added regularly.
Fundación Internacional Bases’ ability to organize such powerful international events virtually and in person shows a scope never seen in similar organizations.

 

Expanding Horizons

In August 2016, the Foundation set out to extend its reach and assemble a network to amplify its impact.
Thus, in Argentina, we are represented in the cities of Rosario, Buenos Aires, Córdoba, La Plata,  and Calchaquí, in the north of the province of Santa Fe.
In Chile, you can find us in Santiago.
In Ecuador, we are Quito.
In Paraguay, we are present in Asunción.
In the United States, in two cities: Lubbock and Chicago.
Vienna and Warsaw are part of our network in Central Europe.
And finally, Tel Aviv in Israel.
Thirteen cities in total, located on three continents. In each of these cities, we have one or more delegates.

The Urban Observatory

For the first time in human history, more than half of the population lives in cities and urban environments. Local governments will define the future of our societies. Thus, it becomes essential to push classical liberal policies to improve and develop our cities. To achieve this goal, we must be able to go beyond theory and define concrete proposals based on data and evidence that can be put into practice.

For these reasons, in 2017, we created the Urban Observatory, which aims to generate social diagnoses, policy evaluations, and reform proposals from a classical liberal perspective for cities in the 21st century.
 

Campaigns

With a particular emphasis in recent years, Fundación Internacional Bases has carried out campaigns favoring various causes. Due to its relevance, impact in the national and international press, and magnitude, the most important has been: «Remove the tributes to ‘Che’ Guevara.»
We have also been active in international initiatives against plain packaging and the internationalization of taxes.
In 2018 we dealt with the wastefulness represented by the airfare expenses of national deputies and senators. We proposed that they start flying with low-cost airlines.
We launched in 2019 the «Stop Maduro» campaign, with which we want to give relevance to the request of six American countries for the crimes of the Venezuelan dictator to be investigated and tried by the International Criminal Court.
Since 2022 we have led the «Mala Educación» (Bad Education) platform. Schools are funded by parents, either through taxes or fees. Teachers and administrators know that it is not a place for political activism. Still, they do it anyway because they believe no one is watching. With Mala Educación, we want to show what goes on in schools so that they become places of education again, not of indoctrination.

Exporting Value

In 2019 and 2021, Fundación Internacional Bases brought its traditional Congress on the Austrian School of Economics to Vienna (Austria). The city where it all began.
In 2022 we organized the 11th edition of the conference in Cusco (Perú). Effectively bringing the event from the Alps to the Andes.
This took place within the framework of the intense international work that the Foundation has been developing, which includes a constant presence at events in Europe and the United States and active representation of the Foundation on three continents.
In this way, Fundación Internacional Bases is the first institution in Latin America capable of expanding its activities to other cities and continents and exporting its programs to other parts of the world.

Networks