The Communist Party, United States of America (Provisional) also known as the Communist Party, United States of America (Provisional Wing) or by shortened names such as the Provisional Communist Party, Provisional Party, Provisional Party of Communists, Order of LeninWhitnack, Jeff

''Public Eye'', 1984, Vol. 4, Nos. 3-4. or simply the Formation, is a communist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific ideological or p ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

founded by

Gino Perente Eugenio Mario Perente-Ramos (Gino Perente) (21 November 1937 – 18 March 1995) was the founder of the National Labor Federation (NATLFED), a collection of anti-poverty organizations in the United States. While canvassing door-to-door and operatin ...

, a controversial farm labor organizer who died in 1995. The party includes much of the leadership of the National Labor Federation (NATLFED), and may have no further substance at all. Outside estimates cap membership at between 100 and 300 core members. Those alleged to be members make no public use of the name, and have virtually no identifiable offices or centers of operations.Smith, Matt
Charitable Front
''SF Weekly'', Dec. 9, 2009 The party, also referred to as the Formation, is clandestine and its exact origins and extent are obscure. There are no party publications, no conventions or leadership elections. During Perente’s lifetime he exercised full control over the party, communicating directly with members through long orations held at his Carroll Street office in

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, New York, through audiotapes of those speeches sent out to members running the various NATLFED entities, or through rare printed manuals, such as Perente's 1973 mimeographed ''The Essential Organizer''. Party members do not openly acknowledge its existence. Members of the party are full-time volunteers in NATLFED entities.

Membership and history

Membership in the party is by invitation, and invitation comes to volunteers in NATLFED entities as a revelation of the existence of the party, an explanation of the party's goals and strategy, and a brief "history" of the party, called the "genesis." This "genesis" is reportedly a narrative which includes claims that the party was part of a secret International including the

Communist Party of Cuba The Communist Party of Cuba ( es, Partido Comunista de Cuba, PCC) is the sole ruling party of Cuba. It was founded on 3 October 1965 as the successor to the United Party of the Cuban Socialist Revolution, which was in turn made up of the 26 ...

, the

Sandinista The Sandinista National Liberation Front ( es, Frente Sandinista de Liberación Nacional, FSLN) is a socialist political party in Nicaragua. Its members are called Sandinistas () in both English and Spanish. The party is named after Augusto C� ...

s and revolutionaries in

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in the western part of South America. It is the southernmost country in the world, and the closest to Antarctica, occupying a long and narrow strip of land between the Andes to the east a ...

and El Salvador, and that members of the

Weather Underground The Weather Underground was a far-left militant organization first active in 1969, founded on the Ann Arbor campus of the University of Michigan. Originally known as the Weathermen, the group was organized as a faction of Students for a Democr ...

were among its founders. In 2006 the CPUSA (PW) attained a small victory versus the state of California in ''Vega v. Mallory'', when the State Legislature allocated $610,000 to settle the suit, which alleged that migrant laborers were overcharged for housing in a state-run program.California State Assembly
Assembly Bill No. 1784 (2006)
/ref> The Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals and the Western Farmworkers Association, both NATLFED-linked groups, were instrumental in attaining a successful outcome for the plaintiffs.Alvarado, Miguel
Migrant Farmworkers Win Victory
''ZNet'', June 13, 2004. In 2009 the party was reported to have been involved, again through some of its front groups, in a civic struggle around the proposed rebuilding of a hospital in a low-income area of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, USA.

Structure

The party's secrecy makes accurate appraisals of its internal structure and functioning difficult to achieve. Testimony from former members and contacts has led various observers to characterize the CPUSA (PW) as a "political cult". For example, party members are said to live communally and to spend all their time working for

NATLFED The National Labor Federation (NATLFED) is a network of local community associations, run exclusively by volunteers, that organizes workers excluded from collective bargaining protections by U.S. labor law, specifically under the National Labor Rel ...

entities. The leadership reportedly maintains extensive file on members, and these accept limitations on contact with family members, while those who attempt to leave the group are said to be subjected to intense pressure and harassment.Kifner, John.
Its leader dead, fringe group lives on for its own sake
. ''The New York Times''. November 18, 1996.Enriquez, Alberto.

''Mail Tribune'' (Medford, OR) 12/1996 Some observers, on the other hand, note that the NATLFED and associated groups do in fact perform real and valuable social service and grassroots political work.Lekovic, Nate
"Uncovering the Eastern Service Workers Association"
''Boston Underground", issue 59 (Winter 2007-2008). After Perente's death in 1995, leadership of the CPUSA (PW) was assumed by Margaret Ribar, who is reported to have relaxed some of those restrictions.Solomon, Alisa.

. ''The Village Voice'' November 26, 1996 The party has a Central Committee and is divided into cells, referred to as "fractions", including a select "Military Fraction"United States Federal Bureau of Investigation
File on National Labor Federation/NATLFED/Provisional Communist Party/Eastern Farm Workers Association/Eastern Service Workers Association
1975-. which made news in 1996 after a raid on the party's New York headquarters resulted in the discovery of a weapons stockpile.Kifner, John

''New York Times'', November 13, 1996. Most of its activities -and recruitment-, however, are carried out through front groups working in support of local community struggles. Organizations reported to function as support structures or fronts for the CPUSA (PW) include: * National Labor Federation * Physicians Organizing Committee * National Equal Justice Association *

Coalition of Concerned Medical Professionals A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...

* Coalition of Concerned Legal Professionals *

California Homemakers Association The National Labor Federation (NATLFED) is a network of local community associations, run exclusively by volunteers, that organizes workers excluded from collective bargaining protections by U.S. labor law, specifically under the National Labor Rel ...

* Women's Press Collective (of New York; a distinct group from the

Women's Press Collective Judy Grahn (born July 28, 1940) is an American poet and author. Inspired by her experiences of disenfranchisement as a butch lesbian, she became a feminist poet, highly-regarded in underground circles before achieving public fame. A major influe ...

of Oakland, California) *

Eastern Farm Workers Association The National Labor Federation (NATLFED) is a network of local community associations, run exclusively by volunteers, that organizes workers excluded from collective bargaining protections by U.S. labor law, specifically under the National Labor Rela ...

Western Farm Workers Association Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Eastern Service Workers Association The National Labor Federation (NATLFED) is a network of local community associations, run exclusively by volunteers, that organizes workers excluded from collective bargaining protections by U.S. labor law, specifically under the National Labor Rel ...

Western Service Workers Association Western may refer to: Places *Western, Nebraska, a village in the US *Western, New York, a town in the US *Western Creek, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western Junction, Tasmania, a locality in Australia *Western world, countries that id ...

Notes

{{Authority control Communist parties in the United States Marxist–Leninist parties in the United States Clandestine groups National Labor Federation

Membership and history

Structure

See also

Notes