Conservatives International Brings Pro-Liberty Activists Together

Our friends at Conservatives International published a great short video this week (featuring CEI’s own Iain Murray) hilighting the major event they hosted recently in Miami, Florida. Their “Americas” conference brought together leaders from Latin America and the U.S., with allies from Europe and as far afield as Australia thrown into the mix as well. 

CEI founder Fred L. Smith, Jr. also wrote about the Miami conference this week for Forbes:

Contrary to the increasing enthusiasm for closed borders and economic nationalism among some right-leaning political parties around the world, this new group seeks to clarify that modern conservatives are in favor of free markets and entrepreneurial growth and change—not in resurrecting some museum-piece vision of our cultural past.

Conservatives International views free markets “as the ultimate instrument of poverty alleviation, conflict resolution and social justice.” That may surprise a few U.S. conservatives who have learned to associate the phrase “social justice” with far-left notions of identity politics.

However, it’s a vital part of this new project, to take back some of the claims our left-wing friends have made over the years, including that a large, intrusive government will somehow lead to greater health, wealth, and happiness for the less fortunate among us. The whole history of human civilization suggests the opposite.

Conservatives International is off to a great start, and will soon be living up to their name with a second major conference, this time in Kampala, Uganda. Their calling it the “Great Lakes Trade Summit,” so if you find yourself near Lake Victoria next week, drop in and say hello.