Atlas Network is pleased to announce the finalists for the 2026 Latin America Liberty Award, recognizing the region’s most outstanding achievements advancing economic freedom and human flourishing.
The award will be presented at Latin America Liberty Forum, which will be held in Lima, Peru, February 26–27, 2026. Latin America Liberty Forum convenes the region’s leading freedom champions to exchange ideas, strengthen partnerships, and build practical strategies that expand opportunity and reinforce the foundations of a free society. The Latin America Liberty Award highlights organizations whose work not only delivers measurable impact, but also serves as a model for others working to advance liberty throughout the hemisphere.
The Latin America Liberty Award is part of the Templeton Freedom Award prize program sponsored by Templeton Religion Trust, named for the late investor and philanthropist Sir John Templeton. In addition to Latin America, the program sponsors awards in Africa, Asia, Europe, North America, and the Middle East & North Africa. Its grand prize, the Templeton Freedom Award, is presented annually during Atlas Network’s Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner in New York City. The prize program provides significant grant funding to high-achieving organizations making innovative contributions to economic freedom and human progress.
This year’s three finalists are Centro CRECE, IdeaPaís, and Instituto Liberal de São Paulo.
Centro para la Renovación Económica, Crecimiento y Excelencia (Centro CRECE) (Puerto Rico)
Through its Portraits of Prosperity initiative, Centro CRECE is inspiring the next generation to understand entrepreneurship as a pathway to human flourishing.
The program engages high school and university students in workshops on entrepreneurship, free markets, personal finance, and economic freedom. Students then apply what they learn by interviewing and documenting local entrepreneurs through photography and short films, transforming abstract economic ideas into powerful, tangible stories.
Since its launch, the initiative has grown steadily, expanding participation each year and reaching thousands of individuals through public exhibitions and online engagement. Students report stronger understanding of entrepreneurship, increased appreciation for the role of free enterprise in their communities, and greater interest in pursuing business creation themselves. Since its launch in 2022, the initiative has engaged hundreds of students and reached more than 13,000 people through public exhibitions and online campaigns.
By combining education, hands-on storytelling, and visual arts, Centro CRECE is helping young people see economic freedom not as theory, but as lived experience and cultivating a culture of self-sufficiency, creativity, and hope across Puerto Rico.
IdeaPaís (Chile)
In Chile, IdeaPaís has developed the country’s first sustained civic framework for evaluating political promises and public spending.
Launched in 2022, Government Track Record systematically monitors presidential commitments, government plans, and public investment, transforming political rhetoric into measurable indicators. The initiative assesses not only whether promises are fulfilled, but whether they are fiscally responsible, institutionally viable, and consistent with the long-term health of democratic institutions.
The project has become a reference point in national debate, informing journalists, legislators, and civil society leaders. Its work has strengthened transparency norms and reinforced the expectation that political commitments must be grounded in evidence and accountability.
By bringing clarity and discipline to public discourse, IdeaPaís is strengthening fiscal responsibility, institutional trust, and the cultural foundations of a free society in Chile.
Instituto Liberal de São Paulo (Brazil)
In Brazil, excessive bureaucracy has long restricted opportunities for entrepreneurs, particularly small and low-income business owners seeking to operate legally.
Instituto Liberal de São Paulo’s Freedom to Work project has led the most ambitious civil-society effort in Brazil to implement the Economic Freedom Law at the state and municipal levels. The initiative enables low-risk entrepreneurs to operate without excessive permits and licensing requirements, removing barriers that once made formal work inaccessible to millions.
To date, the project has supported adoption or updates of the law in hundreds of municipalities and multiple states, benefiting more than 129 million Brazilians. Cities that have adopted the reform have experienced significant increases in job creation and new business formation, while state-level data shows measurable gains in investment and economic growth following regulatory simplification.
By reducing bureaucratic barriers and strengthening legal certainty, Freedom to Work is expanding access to formal employment and replacing informality with opportunity, dignity, and economic mobility.
