Livres (movement)

Livres was founded by Sérgio Bivar and his supporters in late 2015 as an internal libertarian tendency within the PSL.[1] The initial goal of Livres was to reform the PSL following the 2018 general elections and modernize the PSL's platform. After Bolsonaro joined the PSL, Livres split with the PSL, claiming Bolsonaro's ultranationalism policies were incompatible with the organization.[2]

After leaving the PSL, Livres announced it would become a non-partisan political movement,[3] with members and supporters free to join any political party in Brazil, provided they followed the 17 principles of the movement. Of the 43 members who were seeking election in 2018, thirteen went to the New Party, eight went to CIDADANIA, seven to Podemos, seven to the Party of National Mobilization, three to the Sustainability Network, two to the Democrats, two to the Green Party and one to Solidariedade.[4]

In the 2018 elections, Livres elected one Senator (Rodrigo Cunha, PSDB, Alagoas), two members of Congress (Tiago Mitraud, Novo, Minas Gerais and Marcelo Calero, Cidadania, Rio de Janeiro) and five members of Legislative Assemblies (Fábio Ostermann, Novo, Rio Grande do Sul; Bruno Souza, PSB, Santa Catarina; Davi Maia, DEM, Alagoas; Guilherme da Cunha, Novo, Minas Gerais; and Daniel José, Novo, São Paulo). In total, Livres-backed candidates received more than 2.5 million votes.[5] After the elections, 9 more elected politicians joined: five federal deputy (Franco Cartafina of Minas Gerais; Daniel Coelho of Pernambuco; Pedro Cunha Lima of Paraíba; Gilson Marques of Santa Catarina; Alex Manente of São Paulo (state)) and four state deputy (Chicão Bulhōes of Rio de Janeiro; Julia Lucy of Federal District (Brazil); Laura Serrano of Minas Gerais; Giuseppi Riesgo of Rio Grande do Sul). [6]

With the election of Bolsonaro as President of Brazil, the party adopted a position of independence and defense of freedom as a whole and for all people.