Long before Javier Milei was the president of a country, he was speaking at Students For Liberty events. He appreciated our mission early on; he understood that to change Argentina’s political future, he had to change the way the rising generation thinks — and that SFL could help him do that.
And so, in December of 2016, he spoke at The Future of Liberty in Buenos Aires, the first regional conference for SFL Argentina.
On November 19, 2017, exactly six years before he would be elected president, and long before he was well known, he appeared at an SFL leadership forum in Corrientes, Argentina. In 2018, he spoke at Liberal Dialogues at the University of CEMA (Macro-economic Studies of Argentina) in Buenos Aires. Also in 2018, and then again in 2020, he gave exclusive interviews to SFL Mexico and Peru, respectively.
He’s worn our pin, hugged our students, and written, “It’s impossible not to adore Students For Liberty.”
But then he became president, and the weight of a country of 45 million people fell on his shoulders. And what would happen if you sent the president of a country a DM on social media? Try it; we all know how active Donald Trump is online.
Crickets. Many, many crickets.
So how did a college student in Spain befriend Javier Milei? How did they come to interact on a first-name basis, chatting directly on WhatsApp and Instagram messages?
Well, that’s what happens when students are not only empowered to act on their passions but are given the training in communication and professionalism to do so the right way.
That’s the story of Manuel Ferretti Martinez, who struck up a digital friendship with Milei on October 22, 2020, when Manuel, then the Social Media Manager for SFL Spain, wished Milei, then a little-known economist, a happy birthday on Instagram.
They exchanged messages over the next few years: a “Congratulations” when Milei became a congressman; an occasional “How’s it going?” or note of support; even deep, philosophical conversations about, for example, whether socialism and communism are synonymous. Later, Manuel noticed Milei wearing that Students For Liberty pin on his blazer; Manuel told the then-congressman it looked sharp.
But even as Milei was becoming the political Cinderella story of the century, Manuel remained, simply and earnestly, a friend, a supporter, and above all, a professional.
“There’s a big difference between communicating with people because you want something and communicating with people because you actually care about them and enjoy talking to them,” Manuel said. “Before I got involved with SFL, I might have done the first kind. But you learn very quickly with SFL: People in this world are passionate about their ideas and want to share them. And if you can truly listen and understand and engage with them, it’ll be better for them AND for you. I was genuinely interested in Milei’s point of view, and I think he recognized that.”
And so, when Milei went to Italy to discuss free trade with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, it was no stretch for Manuel to invite him to speak at an event, too. Milei responded in an hour and a half; he would be happy to come.
Manuel got to work. He reached out to the Milton Friedman Foundation and organized and promoted an event that would give Milei a forum to spread the message of free markets and free trade in Italy.
“Those were some very stressful days,” Manuel said. “But I had other Students For Liberty working with me, and many of them had planned events before. They showed me how to use all the skills I had learned in communication and networking to make it work.”
The event, an SFL Italy collaboration with the Milton Friedman Institute, was a huge success. It attracted hundreds of attendees and lots of media attention; an article with syndicated publication in almost 30 papers mentioned SFL in the opening paragraph.
This is SFL in action. Our students like Manuel can take part in deep, philosophical conversations about whether socialism and communism are synonymous; they understand the ideas of liberty because SFL has taught them.
And because the SFL network also instills values like professionalism — in Manuel’s case, professionalism in earnest communication — and entrepreneurship — in Manuel’s case, the entrepreneurial spirit to make an event with a sitting president happen on short notice — those ideas can spread faster and more efficiently than ever before.