Earlier this month I attended and spoke at the APEE 49th Meeting in Guatemala City and had a great time. 1 The APEE Annual Meetings alternate between Las Vegas and other cities, sometimes in the US, sometimes in other countries. It’s been held in the past in Guatemala because of its connection to the Universidad Francisco Marroquín (where my old friend Bill Marina 2 used to teach), but apparently it’s been over 10 years since it was held there. Most of the meeting was held at the Westin Camino Real, just a couple miles from UFM, but the opening reception and dinner was held at UFM.
As I mentioned previously, 3 the CEES (Centro de Estudios Económico-Sociales; see UFM page), a group affiliated with Universidad Francisco Marroquín and in fact started by Manuel Ayau, who also founded UFM, 4 holds a monthly colloquium with UFM and other local students and members to discuss a book or work, normally on a Saturday night. The impression I get is that CEES was originally founded as very classical liberal and libertarian but nowadays has a lot of members interested in Rothbard, Hoppe, Austro-libertarianism, and so on. They sent me a very kind invitation to lead a discussion on the Monday night of my APEE talk (April 7), on the topic of self-ownership and natural rights, based on “How We Come To Own Ourselves,” chapter 4 of my recent book. 5
I was not sure of the format so had not prepared a talk, but when asked to lecture, I did so, and went on for about 45 minutes until I was told it was time. The talk was meant to be recorded so and I did not think to record it myself because I didn’t realize I would be lecturing, but I believe it went over well and the students enjoyed it. The long Q&A afterwards was intense and interesting. I had long talks with many of the participants before and after. And I was shown amazing hospitality.
Update: Apparently part of the talk was in fact recorded, though a section in the middle is missing, and the audio is not very good. It is here:
I thoroughly enjoyed the event and as I later wrote the CEES director, Pedro Pablo Velásquez, and Julio Cole, who had suggested I present on IP at the APEE event:
I am back home in Houston.Even though I had a short stay, I really enjoyed the APEE event. I don’t know how I was so oblivious about APEE all these years. Seems like such a good group. Although I’m not an economist I was surprised to find many people I already knew or knew of there, and got to make some new acquaintances as well.… I also thoroughly enjoyed participating in Pablo’s CEES Colloquium Monday night. Great people and students. The hospitality I was shown and the devotion to and interest in the ideas of freedom blew me away. I was very touched and moved, inspired even. I return home to Houston with my intellectual batteries and energies recharged.
All in all, a great trip.
I conclude with some Tweets, instagram posts, and photos. What a pleasure to be around people with such enthusiasm for liberty and ideas; compared to this, my (much larger) home town of Houston seems like an intellectual wasteland!
Update: Franco Farias sent me a link to the May, 2025 issue of his AnCap magazine, El Libertador Galopante (The Galloping Liberator), which contains a writeup of the event. Translated text below.
Stephan Kinsella in Guatemala: On Self-Ownership and the Ethics of Argument
04/07/2025
The great libertarian lawyer, Stephan Kinsella, was received and gave an excellent lecture for the Libertarian Movement of Guatemala and the Center for Economic and Social Studies (CEES).
Possibly the first openly/public activity by a Hoppean anarcho-capitalist in Guatemala, the disciple of Hans-Hermann Hoppe gave a masterful presentation on his work entitled “How Do We Come to Own Ourselves”? This work is now included in his most recent book, Legal Foundations of a Free Society, which will soon be translated into Spanish.
More than 30 people attended the discussion on the origin and justification of private ownership of the body from a logical and axiomatic point of view. Due to unfortunate camera issues, the presentation was not fully recorded, but a virtual interview was agreed upon, covering the same topics so that the public who were unable to attend could hear it.
Further comments:
El lunes voy a conocer a Stephan Kinsella en un seminario sobre Ética de la Argumentación y propiedad que va a durar una semana pic.twitter.com/izq53wlRrT
— MⒶrtin Cabrera 🏴🐍🇦🇹 (@MartinCabreraGR) March 31, 2025
Talking about freedom and our rights never felt more liberating! Thanks for everything to the greatest libertarian @NSKinsella pic.twitter.com/H6s7vS0TMZ
— Laura Rangel (@Laurangel24) April 8, 2025
Ayer tuvimos el privilegio de escuchar a @NSKinsella, referente en filosofía del derecho desde una perspectiva libertaria. La charla fue sobre el principio de propiedad de uno mismo.
Gracias @CEES_gt y @MovLibertarioGT 🤩 pic.twitter.com/GfplzeNEsX
— Mar🩰 (@marjp_23) April 8, 2025
Daniel mayorga
- KOL458 | Patent and Copyright versus Innovation, Competition, and Property Rights (APEE 2025). [↩]
- See my post Bill Marina (R.I.P.) on American Imperialism from the Beginning; also William Marina R.I.P., History News Network; William Marina R.I.P. | David Beito – The Beacon; William F. Marina as Teacher and Historian Independent Institute, Joe Stromberg. [↩]
- Speaking at APEE IP Panel in Guatemala. [↩]
- Ayau founded CEES in 1959 and he and other members of CEES founded UFM in 1971. For more on Ayau, see Ayau, The Ideology of Underdevelopment; Pedro Pablo Velásquez, “Manuel Ayau’s Campaign for Liberty: How FEE helped spark a movement in Guatemala,” FEE.org (Jan. 27, 2025); Classical Liberalism in Guatemala; Manuel F. Ayau (1925-2010): A Life for Liberty, Justice, and the Truth; Manuel Ayau: Champion of Freedom; Manuel Ayau (Acton); Manuel Ayau, »Champion of Freedom» (UFM); [↩]
- Stephan Kinsella, Legal Foundations of a Free Society (Houston, Texas: Papinian Press, 2023). [↩]
