The Workers' Socialist Movement (

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

: ''Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores'', MST) is a Puerto Rican

democratic socialist Democratic socialism is a left-wing political philosophy that supports political democracy and some form of a socially owned economy, with a particular emphasis on economic democracy, workplace democracy, and workers' self-management within ...

revolutionary A revolutionary is a person who either participates in, or advocates a revolution. The term ''revolutionary'' can also be used as an adjective, to refer to something that has a major, sudden impact on society or on some aspect of human endeavor. ...

organization, formed in 1982 and dedicated to the self-organization and self-emancipation of the

working-class The working class (or labouring class) comprises those engaged in manual-labour occupations or industrial work, who are remunerated via waged or salaried contracts. Working-class occupations (see also " Designation of workers by collar colo ...

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 ...

, as well as international solidarity with the workers struggles worldwide. It is usually known as the "MST", and its youth section is the '' Unión de Juventudes Socialistas'' (Union of Socialist Youth), also known as the "UJS-MST" or simply "UJS". The MST supports a socialist and independent Puerto Rico.

Politics

The MST politics are

, understood from the centrality of class as a motor of history. Rather than describing itself as " Marxist", it prefers the term " Dialectical Materialist", feeling the term " Marxist" to have been narrowed by history to represent a single set of views on

socialism Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

and class-based revolutionary struggle. As a multi-tendency organization, with a culture of debate and ideological discussion, there are people within its membership and leadership who visualize themselves as

anarchists Anarchism is a political philosophy and movement that is skeptical of all justifications for authority and seeks to abolish the institutions it claims maintain unnecessary coercion and hierarchy, typically including, though not necessari ...

Anti-Revisionists Anti-revisionism is a position within Marxism–Leninism which emerged in the 1950s in opposition to the reforms of Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev. Where Khrushchev pursued an interpretation that differed from his predecessor Joseph Stalin, ...

communists Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...

Maoists Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...

, revolutionary socialists, syndicalists, and

Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a r ...

s. What they do have in common is a commitment to

action, and to worker's self-emancipation, which leads to a belief that differences in opinion are a positive feature in a revolutionary organization.

Organization

The MST is a cadre organization, which means that membership is not open to the wider public. This is both a result of a need for dedication and trust building from cadres, and as a way to prevent the state repression that has plagued other organizations in Puerto Rico. This does not mean that the organization is in any way "secret", its members are public, vocal, advocates of the organization's politics.

History

The MST was formed in 1982 by the merger of two important (and previously rival) socialist groups, the

maoist Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...

Partido Socialista Revolucionario/PSR ( Revolutionary Socialist Party) and the Guevarist/ Marxist-Leninist Movimiento Socialista Popular ( Popular Socialist Movement). Later, in 1984, the Liga Internacionalista de los Trabajadores/LIT ( Workers' Internationalist League (Puerto Rico)) also dissolved into the MST. Influenced by the

Cuban Revolution The Cuban Revolution ( es, Revolución Cubana) was carried out after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état which placed Fulgencio Batista as head of state and the failed mass strike in opposition that followed. After failing to contest Batista in co ...

, especially

Che Guevara Ernesto Che Guevara (; 14 June 1928The date of birth recorded on /upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/78/Ernesto_Guevara_Acta_de_Nacimiento.jpg his birth certificatewas 14 June 1928, although one tertiary source, (Julia Constenla, quoted ...

, the Chinese Revolution and

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (P ...

, and a number of similar revolutionary experiences worldwide, the MST began to replace the declining

Puerto Rican Socialist Party The Puerto Rican Socialist Party ( es, Partido Socialista Puertorriqueño, PSP) was a Marxist and pro-independence political party in Puerto Rico seeking the end of United States of America control on the Hispanic and Caribbean island of Puerto ...

as the predominant

far-left Far-left politics, also known as the radical left or the extreme left, are politics further to the left on the left–right political spectrum than the standard political left. The term does not have a single definition. Some scholars conside ...

group in Puerto Rico. In 1990, the MST founded the Socialist Front along with the Partido Revolucionario de los Trabajadores Puertorriqueños-Macheteros/PRTP-Macheteros ( Puerto Rican Revolutionary Workers' Party-Macheteros) and the Taller de Formacion Politica-TFP ( Political Education Workshop), an alliance of radical-left groups. Among its supporters are Rafael Feliciano Hernández twice-elected leader of the Teachers' Federation of Puerto Rico, on an openly socialist platform; Victor Rodriguez, student leader and spokesman of the UJS in the University of Puerto Rico at Rio Piedras; Pedro Colon Almenas, former political prisoner.

Current activities

The MST publishes a monthly 8-page newspaper, ''Bandera Roja'', formerly of the MSP, and in continuous publication since 1974. Its webpage first went online in 1996, acquired the domain name "bandera.org" in 1997 and has had the current PHP driven format since 1999. It is currently asserting itself after leaving the Socialist Front, as in heavily involved in the struggles against re-structuring programs, including the current fiscal crisis in government. It is also visible in the struggle to call attention to the untried murder case of MSP founding member and Cuban exile Carlos Muñiz Varela, and the attempts on the part of the government to repress protests against the continued coverup in that case, including the recent homage paid for by the Legislature to suspected intellectual author of Muñiz's murder, Julio Labatud.

External links

''Bandera Roja'' online
{{Advocacy groups in Puerto Rico Multi-tendency organizations in the United States Political parties established in 1982 Political parties in Puerto Rico Communist parties in Puerto Rico Socialism in Puerto Rico 1982 establishments in Puerto Rico State and local socialist parties in the United States