Instituto Liberdade (Brazil)

Background

Instituto Liberdade (Liberty Institute) is an independent Brazilian non-profit think tank based in Tecnopuc, Porto Alegre, in Southern Brazil. Instituto Liberdade began as “Instituto Liberal do Rio Grande do Sul” in 1986 and was renamed Instituto Liberdade on May 11, 2004.¹

Instituto Liberdade’s stated purpose is to “foster the research, creation, and dissemination of educational and cultural assets displaying the advantages to all individuals of an organized society, based on the principles of individual rights, of limited and representative government, of respect for private property rights, contracts, and the free initiative. ” According to it swebsite, the group “supports multi-disciplinary theorists and intellectual entrepreneurs who endeavor to produce analyses or policy recommendations. It supports the rule of law, government decentralization, the free-market economy, and cultural freedom according to the principles of the Austrian School of Economics.”²

The institute carries out studies and research, edits books and publications, organizes courses, workshops, colloquia, debates, seminars and conferences and spreads “conservative/libertarian ideas among opinion leaders in the midst of entrepreneurs, magistrates, scholars, politicians, and artists.”

Three of the Instituto Liberdade’s board members are also members of the Mont Pelerin Society.

Stance on Climate Change

The Instituto Liberdade does not list an official statement regarding its stance on climate change. It regularly publishes articles by other think tanks that question or dismiss the existence of man-made climate change, however does not often post articles or studies of its own (based on a sample of articles on its website).³

Funding

According to their website, Instituto Liberdade is funded primarily by private contributions of individuals and institutions. Conservative Transparency lists seven transactions for the Instituto Liberdade, based on data retrieved from public 990 tax records:⁴ ⁵

Donor	Recipient	Amount	Year
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	Instituto Liberdade (Porto Alegre Brazil)	$10,000	2011
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	Instituto Liberdade (Porto Alegre Brazil)	$10,000	2010
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	Instituto Liberdade (Porto Alegre Brazil)	$15,000	2009
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	Instituto Liberdade (Porto Alegre Brazil)	$15,000	2008
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	Instituto Liberdade (Porto Alegre Brazil)	$15,000	2007
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	Instituto Liberdade (Porto Alegre Brazil)	$15,000	2006
Pierre F. and Enid Goodrich Foundation	Instituto Liberdade (Porto Alegre Brazil)	$15,000	2005

Key People

Board of Directors

The following individuals are listed on the Instituto Liberdade’s website, as of October, 2015 (it is unclear when this list was last updated):⁶

Ricardo Sondermann — President
Margaret Tse — CEO and Public Policy Expert. Member of Mont Pèlerin Society.
Ademar Xavier — Vice President
Daniela Tumelero — Vice President
Emiliano Gasque Rosenfield — Vice President
Fábio Pesavento — Vice President
Ricardo Santos Gomes — Vice President

Past Directors, listed listed as of March, 2011:⁷

Henri Siegert Chazan — President. Member of Mont Pèlerin Society.
Mathias K. Rodrigues — Chief Finance Officer.
Leandro Gostisa —Vice President.
Jorge Antônio Dib — Vice President.
Paulo Uebel — Vice President.
Claudio Teitelbaum — Vice-President.
Gustavo Lepnitz Ene — Vice-President.
André Buneder — Vice-President.
Gabriel Barbosa — Vice-President.
Fábio Ostermann — Project Manager
Luiz Eduardo Fração — Vice President

Academic Council

As of October, 2015:⁸

Paulo Uebel
Carlos Fernando Souto
Leônidas Zelmanovitz — Member of the Mont Pèlerin Society
André Burger

Actions

July 7, 2014

Instituto Liberdade was a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s 9th International Conference on Cilmate Chance (ICCC9) in Las Vegas, Nevada.⁹

May 21–23, 2012

Instituto Liberdade was a “Silver Sponsor” of the Heartland Institute’s Seventh International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC7).¹⁰

DeSmogBlog researched co-sponsors behind the conference and discovered that they had received a total of over $67 Million from ExxonMobil, Koch, and Scaife family foundations.¹¹

June 30–July 1, 2011

Instituto Liberdade was a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Sixth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC6) in Chicago, IL.¹²

DeSmogBlog found that 17 of the 43 sponsors of the Heartland Institute’s Sixth International Conference on Climate Change, including the Heartland Institute itself, had collectively received over $46 million from either Scaife Foundations, Koch Foundations, or ExxonMobil.¹³

August 31, 2010

Instituto Liberdade was a co-sponsor of a report organized by the International Policy Network.

The study is titled “Seven Myths About Green Jobs” (PDF) and purports to “reveals the hidden costs of so-called ‘green investments’, bringing a key policy of Britain’s coalition government into question,” writes Instituto Liberdad’s Margaret Tse.¹⁴ ¹⁵

May 16–18, 2010

Instituto Liberdade was a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Fourth International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC4) in Chicago, IL.¹⁶

DeSmogBlog found that 19 of the 65 sponsors (including Heartland itself) had received a total of over $40 million in funding since 1985 from ExxonMobil (who funded 13 of the organizations), and/or Koch Industries family foundations (funded 10 organizations) and/or the Scaife family foundations (funded 10 organizations).¹⁷

June 2, 2009

Instituto Liberdade was a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Third International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC3) in Washington, DC.¹⁸

March 8–10, 2009

Instituto Liberdade was a co-sponsor of the Heartland Institute’s Second International Conference on Climate Change (ICCC2) in New York.¹⁹

DeSmog researched the funding behind Heartland’s Second International Conference on Climate Change and found that sponsor organizations had received over $47 million in funding from energy companies and right-wing foundations, with 78% of that total coming from Scaife Family foundations²⁰

Instituto Liberdade Contact & Location

As of June 2016, Instituto Liberdade listed the following contact information on its website:²¹

CEP 90619-900 – Porto Alegre, RS, Brasil
Fone: +55(51) 3384-7158 e 3384-6893
E-mail: [email protected]

Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change (CSCCC) — Past Member (the group’s website is no longer live, and it is unclear if they are still in operation).²²

Instituto Liberdade regularly republishes articles form other prominent conservative think tanks including the Heartland Institute, American Enterprise Institute, Climate Realists, The Independent Institute, the Heritage Foundation, the Atlas Economic Research Foundation, the Sustainable Development Network, the Civil Society Coalition on Climate Change, and numerous others.

Partners

Instituto Liberdade maintains over 300 partner organizations, blogs, and international groups. (See the attached spreadsheet for a full list of Institute Liberdade’s “Partners” (.xls). Below are some notable examples:²³

In 2004, Instituto Liberdade joined Liberal Network for Latin America – RELIAL, a network of think tanks and parties involved in research on public policies, which represents, divulges and implements ideas of classic liberalism, standing its ground in Latin America.

Instituto Liberdade is listed as a partner/member of the Atlas Network.²⁴

@InstLiberdade on Twitter.
“Instituto Liberdade” on LinkedIn.

Other Resources

“Instituto Liberdade,” SourceWatch.
“Instituto Liberdade,” Wikipedia.

Resources

1
“About Us,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived October 24, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/22eTs
2
“About Us,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived October 24, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/22eTs
3
“Climate Change,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived March 26, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/oV771
4
“About Us,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived October 24, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/22eTs
5
“Instituto Liberdade (Porto Alegre Brazil),” Conservative Transparency. Accessed May 31, 2017. Archive.is URL: https://archive.is/6n8qA
6
“Board of Directors,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived October 24, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/t9rbu
7
“Board of Directors,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived March 19, 2011. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/AppfE
8
“Academic Council,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived October 24, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/WB1yz
9
“9th International Conference on Climate Change,” Instituto Liberdade, July 7, 2014. Archived October 23, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/cyFNk
10
“Cosponsors,” 7th International Conference on Climate Change. Archived May 10, 2012. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/VAY3r
11
A Closer Look at Heartland’s ICCC7 Denial-a-Palooza Speakers and Sponsors,” DeSmog, May 23, 2012.
12
Sixth International Conference on Climate Change Conference Program (PDF), the Heartland Institute. Archived July 25, 2015.
13
Brendan DeMelle. “Denial-a-Palooza 6: Heartland’s Sixth International Conference on Climate Change, Courtesy of Koch, Scaife & Exxon,” DeSmog, June 30, 2011.
14
Margaret Tse. “’Green’ Subsidies Are Costly for Taxpayers and the Environment – New Study,” Instituto Liberdade, August 31, 2010. Archived October 24, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/scAXJ
15
Andrew P. Morriss, William T. Bogart, Andrew Dorchak and Roger E. Meiners. “Seven Myths About Green Jobs” (PDF), International Policy Network, August, 2010. Archived .pdf on file at DeSmog.
16
4th International Conference on Climate Change Conference Program (PDF), The Heartland Institute.
17
Brendan DeMelle. “Denial-a-palooza Round 4: ‘International Conference on Climate Change’ Groups Funded by Exxon, Koch Industries,” DeSmog, May 13, 2010.
18
“Co-Sponsors,” Third International Conference on Climate Change. Archived July 14, 2010.
19
“Co-Sponsors,” The 2009 International Conference on Climate Change. Archived April 28, 2011.
20
“Heartland Institute’s 2009 Climate Conference in New York: funding history of the sponsors,” DeSmog.
21
“Fale Conosco,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived June 29, 2016. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/pc5Jh
22
Margaret Tse. “News from Climate Coalition – CSCCC,” Instituto Liberdade, November 27, 2009. Archived October 23, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/7tQxu
23
“Sponsors and Partners,” Instituto Liberdade. Archived October 24, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/os9MW
24
“Instituto Liberdade,” Atlas Network. Archived October 24, 2015. Archive URL: https://archive.ph/Vo7g9

DeSmog

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