Livres was founded by Sérgio Bivar and his supporters in late 2015 as an internal
economic liberal tendency within the PSL. The initial goal of Livres was to reform the PSL following the
2018 Brazilian general election 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. After leaving the PSL, Livres announced it would become a non-partisan political movement, 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. In the
2018 Brazilian general election, 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. 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) and four state deputy (
Chicão Bulhões of
Rio de Janeiro;
Julia Lucy of
Federal District (Brazil);
Laura Serrano of
Minas Gerais;
Giuseppe Riesgo of
Rio Grande do Sul). 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. == References ==