Venezuela’s Students For Liberty, led by Oriana Aranguren and Carlos Infante, won the Group of the Year Award at LibertyCon International in February 2025. They earned it by organizing 241 events, which reached more than 3,400 people, despite the danger of speaking out against a government that literally made the term “neoliberal” illegal. Sometimes, that meant hosting events in living rooms in private homes. But because they were not able to travel to the United States, they had not been able to receive that award.
At long last, and despite even further, last-minute travel bans from the Maduro regime, members of the Venezuelan group managed to arrive safely in Panama City for the Advanced Leadership Retreat. There, they gathered with trained volunteers from throughout Latin America to strategize for the upcoming year. And, best of all, they received their award.
“It was a deeply emotional and rewarding thing,” Aranguren said. “It symbolized the value of our effort; that it was all worth it. And on an international level, it showed the rest of the organization not just all the challenges and obstacles we face, but that our team is unwavering in its commitment to freedom.”
Students For Liberty operations in Venezuela are never simple or easy. Several of our coordinators there were forced to go into hiding, leave their homes, even flee the country. And yet, the team has not rested on the laurels of its award but continued to advance the mission of liberty. They organized two separate LibertyCons, where more than 300 attendees had the chance to hear something you won’t find anywhere else in Venezuela: open dialogue and intellectual debate about liberty. The Venezuelan team also confirmed 30 new volunteers who are motivated to continue building the liberty movement, despite the risks associated with being part of a liberty-based organization there.
Meanwhile, in Colombia, SFL’s National Coordinator Cristian Romero has taken center stage. He recently wrote and proposed a libertarian constitution for his country. His speaking tour and social media push garnered enough attention to allow him to write three opinion pieces in media outlets and helped him earn a teaching position at just 21 years old. Moreover, it demonstrated to thousands of Colombians that the ideas of liberty are realistic and attainable. When he finishes his Master’s program in Criminal Law, he plans to defend individuals against the state — a philosophy and pursuit he learned with Students For Liberty.
And with Bolivia’s presidential election drawing near, our National Coordinator there, Luis Gustavo Cuellar, teamed up with the College of Political Scientists at the Universidad Privada Domingo Savio to organize and host the vice-president debate. Turnout was massive to hear the candidates discuss their views on liberty and how they plan to tackle difficult issues in Bolivia, inflation key among them.
Also in Bolivia, our coordinators hosted weekly Frater Liberal events, which offered a more relaxed environment, inviting open discussion about current events and philosophy. The 40 Frater Liberal events throughout the year brought in more than 700 attendees!
Finally, in Mexico, the Liberty Roadshow attracted 6,049 attendees across 74 events — crucially, in 15 different states. That geographic diversity was meaningful to our team because it proved that Students For Liberty can make a difference in smaller cities and towns, where political and civic engagement is often lower but potentially more impactful.