In 2013, the so-called “Brazilian Spring” started as a wave of protests led by the Free Fare Movement (MPL), demanding cheaper transit fares and an expanded welfare state from the Workers Party. Support for the protests grew beyond their expectations. A new crowd, co-opting the MPL’s disillusionment against PT, started taking a more conservative-nationalist shape — the MBL.
In their manifesto published online, MBL wanted to promote "free and independent press, economic freedom, separation of powers, free and reputable elections, and the end of direct and indirect subsidies to dictatorships." Members of the Free Brazil Movement are primarily young, middle-class, social-media savvy, financially liberal but socially conservative — gaining backing through Facebook groups. On July 25th 2017, Facebook announced that 196 pages and 87 accounts connected to MBL would be closing due to misinformation.
MBL also received financial support from the Koch-funded Atlas Network and is among many political initiatives in Latin America that have gone through Atlas’ seminars, such as Students for Liberty, alongside the Merrill Lynch-funded Millenium Institute. While many members of MBL supported Bolsonaro’s election in 2018, they paint a more nebulous picture of the Reactionary International — one supported by right-wing think tanks.
