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 political ideology ...
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 Pantín, an early leader of the Puerto Rican labor movement
The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other.
* The trade union movement ...
who was influenced by the Socialist Labor Party of America
The Socialist Labor Party (SLP)"The name of this organization shall be Socialist Labor Party". Art. I, Sec. 1 of thadopted at the Eleventh National Convention (New York, July 1904; amended at the National Conventions 1908, 1912, 1916, 1920, 1924 ...
. 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
The Free Federation of Workers (, FLT) was a union federation in Puerto Rico. It was founded in 1899 and initially led by Santiago Iglesias Pantín. Its political arm became the Socialist Party, founded in 1915.
It affiliated with the American ...
, which became the Puerto Rican branch of the American Federation of Labor
The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...
. The party was an affiliate of the Socialist Party of America
The Socialist Party of America (SPA) was a socialist political party in the United States formed in 1901 by a merger between the three-year-old Social Democratic Party of America and disaffected elements of the Socialist Labor Party of Ameri ...
.
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
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 ...
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