Universidad Francisco Marroquin (aka University of Free Marketeers)

Guatemala's Universidad Francisco Marroquín, which economist Walter Williams described as an island of economic sanity in a sea of socialism, is a truly unique place.

Founded by "Muso" Manuel Ayau in 1971, the mission of Universidad Francisco Marroquín is to teach and disseminate the ethical, legal and economic principles of a society of free and responsible persons. In other words, the people at UFM want the people of Guatemala to be free. This is, of course, no small task in a country that has been plagued by political corruption and socialist policies for so long.

However, as UFM graduate Alfredo Guzmán told us, "sometimes thoughts become things." And Guzmán knows what he's talking about. In the late 90s, Guzmán and other UFM graduates successfully privatized Guatemala's state-run telecommunications monopoly and opened up the market to competition. How did that free market experiment work out? In 1995, there were only 300,000 phones in Guatemala; today, 13 million Guatemaltecos own more than 18 million phones.

Approximately 9 minutes. Produced by Paul Feine & Alex Manning.

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