Forget the stereotypes about samba, soccer, and the rainforest. Brazil is much more than that. The fifth-largest country in the world, with the fifth-largest population, this is the home to a people with as much ethnic diversity as love for their families, their communities, and the place where they live. Instituto Monte Castelo was born in 2017 to provide accurate, clear policy proposals and commentary. As an independent organization, we have never received, and never will, any financial support from any government or political party.
Our organization was named after the most important battle Brazilian troops took part in during Second World War. The heroic conquest of Monte Castelo, a strategic mountain in Italy that had been under Nazi control, reminds us the Brazilian people is capable of achieving great things in the fight for freedom.
We are convinced that the political and economic challenges faced by the Brazilian people cannot be properly solved without liberty. The high concentration of power at the federal level – that imposes a minimum wage, controls most major universities, manages a centralized healthcare system and is responsible for all penal laws – makes it urgent to bring autonomy back to the citizens, then to local and state level governments.
But the idea of personal responsibility is just as crucial. Political liberty requires informed political participation. A healthy democracy cannot survive without virtuous citizens. Often, in Brazil, this notion has been neglected, and transferring power to the federal government was seen as the first option to solve any major problem. This needs to change.
Most importantly: in a country where 80,000 people die every year because of crime and car accidents, and where there is growing pressure from foreign organizations to legalize abortion against the will of the people, protecting life should be a priority. There can be no liberty and responsibility without life. Brazil needs common-sense laws and policies that protect the life of its citizens.
That is why we have a clear mission: to fight relentlessly to revitalize liberty, protect life, and promote individual responsibility.
In its work, Monte Castelo explores a variety of issues – such as education, national defense, law enforcement, democratic culture, economic policy – and reaches out to lawmakers and policymakers in order to advance an agenda that promotes the values that make Brazil a freer, safer, and more prosperous country.
The Brazilian people deserves nothing less than that.