Argentina’s controversial President Javier Milei will travel to Spain on June 21 to receive an award from the Spanish think tank Instituto Juan de Mariana for his “exemplary defense of the ideas of freedom.”
Milei was invited to attend the awards ceremony and to take part in the so-called “Freedom Dinner” that this institution organized at the Madrid Casino. Last year he was present at the award ceremony where the Spanish economist Miguel Anxo Bastos was honored.
Milei himself expressed his gratitude for the award on his social networks, and the spokesman for the Argentine presidency, Manuel Adorni, emphasized that the president would be honored “along with other leaders from different fields” such as Nobel Prize winner for literature Mario Vargas Llosa.
In addition to this award, the Argentine leader was honored with another award from a German institution, the award ceremony of which will take place the following day, June 22nd, in Hamburg.
A “think tank” for personalities who defend freedom”
As defined on its own website, the Juan de Mariana Institute (IJM) is an independent institution dedicated to the study of public affairs, founded in 2005 by a group of “young Spanish liberals with the aim of creating spaces for increasing freedom in society support financially”. Its goal is to “become a point of reference in the debate about ideas and public policy toward a free society.”
“In order to maintain full independence, the IJM does not accept subsidies or aid from governments or political parties and is financed by the voluntary contributions of those people who share our social purpose or service provision,” they explain in their cover letter.
Their activities include weekly conferences to which they invite “libertarian personalities” and young researchers, with the aim of “educating those interested in politics, economics or philosophy through debate and discussion of ideas.”
It also organizes seminars, conferences, sales of “liberal books,” summer courses, and the event to which Milei was invited, a “freedom dinner,” which the IJM describes as “our networking event par excellence and the highlight of Freedom Week”: “In it “We present the Juan de Mariana Award for an exemplary career in defense of freedom to a public figure (popularizer or academic) with a distinguished career in defense of the ideas of freedom,” they explain.
Who was Juan de Mariana?
Father Mariana was born in Talavera de la Reina at the end of 1535 and over the years became a one of the most original and solid thinkers of the Salamanca School, after the institution that bears his name. He soon distinguished himself for his intellectual abilities and, after joining the Society of Jesus, he studied at the University of Alcalá. Around 1560 he was appointed to teach theology in Rome. His growing reputation as a teacher and thinker later took him to Lorete and Sicily.
At the end of the same decade he moved to Paris, where he taught the doctrine of Saint Thomas Aquinas. At this time, Juan de Mariana was already one of the most respected minds on the Old Continent. In 1574 he returned to Spain after requesting a transfer due to alleged health problems.
Problems that would not stop him from entering the most intellectually productive period of his life and living to the age of 89. His defense of private property and the clear and strict limits of political power remain impressive recommendations for preserving the individual rights of all people.