The Socialist Party ( es, Partido Socialista, PS), also known as Socialista Obrero (Socialist Worker's), was a pro-
statehood 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
Puerto Rico
Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and unincorporated ...
, that also contemplated independence in the case that entry into the American Union was denied by Congress. The party was concerned with improving the social welfare of Puerto Ricans.
It was founded on 18 July 1899 as the
Labor Party (''Partido Obrero''), and was also known as the Socialist Worker's Party ( es, Partido Obrero Socialista)
''Arts / Teatro obrero.''
Encyclopedia Puerto Rico. Retrieved 29 February 2012. by Santiago Iglesias PantÃn, an early leader of the Puerto Rican labor movement who was influenced by the Socialist Labor Party of America. It was formally re-founded as the PS on March 21, 1915, in the town of Cayey
Cayey (), officially Cayey de Muesas, is a mountain town and municipality in central Puerto Rico located on the Sierra de Cayey within the Central Mountain range, north of Salinas and Guayama; south of Cidra and Caguas; east of Aibonito and Sal ...
. It originally served as the political arm of the Free Federation of Workers, which became the Puerto Rican branch of the American Federation of Labor. The party was an affiliate of the Socialist Party of America.
In Puerto Rican elections, the Socialist Party garnered 24,468 votes in 1917 (14 percent) and 59,140 votes in 1920 (23.5 percent). Over time, Iglesias and the Socialists became more in favor of statehood and worked with the pro-annexation Republican Party, joining them in an electoral alliance known as the Coalition which dominated island politics from 1932 to 1940. The Socialists won seven seats to the island's constitutional convention, which convened between 1951 and 1952.
Demise
The party disbanded before elections in 1956, and the leadership directed party members to join the Popular Democratic Party (PPD).
Further reading
*James L. Dietz, ''Economic History of Puerto Rico: Institutional Change and Capitalist Development'' (Princeton University Press, 1986)
*Miles Galvin, ''The Organized Labor Movement in Puerto Rico'' (London: Associated University Press, 1979)
References
Defunct political parties in Puerto Rico
Statehood movement in Puerto Rico
Socialism in Puerto Rico
Socialist parties in North America
1899 establishments in Puerto Rico
Political parties established in 1899
1950s disestablishments in Puerto Rico
Political parties disestablished in the 1950s
{{Puerto Rico stub