Workers' Socialist Party (Mexico)
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The Workers' Socialist Party (, PST) was a
socialist Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular area'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 Mexico. The PST was founded in 1975 by Rafael Aguilar Talamantes,
Graco Ramírez Graco Luis Ramírez Garrido Abreu (born 26 June 1949) is a Mexican left-wing politician affiliated with the Democratic Revolution Party (PRD) who was Governor of Morelos for the 2012–2018 term. He served in the upper house of Congress as se ...
and Juan Ignacio del Valle, though the party did not obtain its official registration until 1979. The party nominated Cándido Díaz Cerecedo in the 1982 presidential election. The PST won 10 plurinominal seats in the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
in their first elections in
1979 Events January * January 1 ** United Nations Secretary-General Kurt Waldheim heralds the start of the ''International Year of the Child''. Many musicians donate to the ''Music for UNICEF Concert'' fund, among them ABBA, who write the song ...
. Three years later, they gained one seat. Finally, the PST gained one additional seat in the 1985 midterm elections. However, the PST became a satellite party of the ruling
Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...
(PRI). The PST was renamed the
Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction The Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction (; PFCRN) also known as Cardenista Party from 1996-1997, was a list of political parties in Mexico, Mexican political party that arose during the 1989 elections, having evolved from the co ...
in 1987.


History

Many of the party's early leaders participated in the
1968 student protests The protests of 1968 comprised a worldwide escalation of social conflicts, which were predominantly characterized by the rise of left-wing politics, Anti-war movement, anti-war sentiment, Civil and political rights, civil rights urgency, youth C ...
.


Initial stages (1973–1975)

The PST traced its origins to a faction of the ''Comité Nacional de Auscultación y Organización'' (CNOA), led by Rafael Aguilar Talamantes, who believed that the group was too slow in their efforts to organize a political party. They split from the CNAO and wrote "Las causas de la separación" (Causes of the separation), which was published in ''
Excélsior ''Excélsior'' is a daily newspaper in Mexico City. It is the second-oldest paper in the city after ''El Universal (Mexico City), El Universal'', printing its first issue on March 18, 1917. The newspaper's headquarters are located at Avenida Buc ...
'' on 6 March 1973. Their first act was to organize the ''Reunión de Intercambio y Consulta'' on 24 and 25 March with the aim of uniting the struggles of the working class; the event drew 187 attendees from 14 states.Rodríguez Araujo (1989), p. 185 Among them were railway worker unionists, professors, tobacco farmers, journalists and members of the ''Movimiento de Acción y Unidad Socialista'' (MAUS). The attendees agreed almost unanimously on the necessity for a new type of Marxist–Leninist party to serve the interests of the exploited working class, and took on the task of recruiting former revolutionaries and socialist sympathizers from around the country. An "organizing and consulting committee" (COC) was formed, with representation from each of the 14 states.Alonso, p. 166 By the time the group met again in July, there were 1,756 affiliates, over 550 of whom attended the meeting. They published two manifestos in September 1973 and November 1974, respectively. Additionally, the COC began using ''El Insurgente'' as its official newspaper. Throughout the rest of the year and into early 1975, the group was active in the fieldworkers' and peasants' movements and continued distributing copies of ''El Insurgente'' in promotion of their organization.


Official foundation and registration (1975–1978)

The constituent national assembly of the Workers' Socialist Party (''Partido Socialista de los Trabajadores'') first convened on 1 May 1975.Rodríguez Araujo (1989), p. 187 They ratified the party's statutes, declaration of principles, and plan of action, and elected the 64 members of the central committee. The PST continued its political activism as well. In an example, a group of 150 fieldworkers and PST members in
Chilpancingo Chilpancingo de los Bravo (commonly shortened to Chilpancingo; ; Nahuatl: Chilpantzinco ()) is the capital and second-largest city of the Mexican state of Guerrero. In 2010 it had a population of 187,251 people. The municipality has an area of ...
,
Guerrero Guerrero, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Guerrero, is one of the 32 states that compose the administrative divisions of Mexico, 32 Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into Municipalities of Guerrero, 85 municipalities. The stat ...
, marched to the government palace in an attempt to talk to the
Governor of Guerrero List of governors of Guerrero since it became a Federated state, state of Mexico in 1917. References See also

* List of Mexican state governors {{DEFAULTSORT:Governor Of Guerrero Governors of Guerrero, * Lists of governors of State ...
, . The incident was monitored and documented by the Mexican secret police, the
Dirección Federal de Seguridad The Dirección Federal de Seguridad (''Federal Security Directorate'', DFS) was a Mexican intelligence agency and secret police. It was created in 1947 under Mexican president Miguel Alemán Valdés with the assistance of U.S. intelligence age ...
. Like most independent left-wing parties that formed during the 1970s student movement, the PST was not able to obtain legal registry under the strict electoral laws of the time.Bruhn, p. 58 However, in 1977, a were introduced by the
Institutional Revolutionary Party The Institutional Revolutionary Party (, , PRI) is a List of political parties in Mexico, political party in Mexico that was founded in 1929 as the National Revolutionary Party (, PNR), then as the Party of the Mexican Revolution (, PRM) and fin ...
(PRI) regime to give more opportunities to opposition parties. The reforms included expanding the
Chamber of Deputies The chamber of deputies is the lower house in many bicameral legislatures and the sole house in some unicameral legislatures. Description Historically, French Chamber of Deputies was the lower house of the French Parliament during the Bourb ...
to 400 members and increasing the number of seats awarded via
proportional representation Proportional representation (PR) refers to any electoral system under which subgroups of an electorate are reflected proportionately in the elected body. The concept applies mainly to political divisions (Political party, political parties) amon ...
.Bruhn, p. 59 Most importantly, the strict laws governing new party registrations were loosened, allowing independent parties to legally participate in elections on a conditional basis. If they could obtain 1.5 percent of the national vote, the party would be awarded national registration. Following the reforms, the PST earned conditional registration on the same day as the
Mexican Communist Party The Mexican Communist Party (, PCM) was a communist party in Mexico. It was founded in 1917 as the Socialist Workers' Party (, PSO) by Manabendra Nath Roy, a left-wing Indian revolutionary. The PSO changed its name to the ''Mexican Communist ...
(PCM) and the
Mexican Democratic Party The Mexican Democratic Party (, PDM, also known as ''El Partido Gallito Colorado'', "The Little Red Rooster Party") was a Roman Catholicism, Catholic social conservatism, social conservative political party in Mexico that existed between 1979 and 1 ...
(PDM) in 1978.


Elections (1979–1985)

In the 1979 midterm elections, the PST won 10 seats in the Chamber of Deputies via proportional representation after obtaining just over 2 percent of the vote. It also secured its official national registration by meeting the 1.5 percent threshold. In the 1982 elections, the PST nominated Cándido Díaz Cerecedo as its presidential candidate, though it had also considered endorsing the PRI candidate. Díaz Cerecedo finished in sixth place after garnering 1.45 percent of the vote. However, the PST gained a seat in the Chamber of Deputies to bring the number to 11 federal deputies. In the 1985 midterm elections, the PST gained yet another seat in the Chamber of Deputies, giving it 12 members in the LIII Legislature of the Mexican Congress.


Decline and disappearance

The party advocated for
reformism Reformism is a political tendency advocating the reform of an existing system or institution – often a political or religious establishment – as opposed to its abolition and replacement via revolution. Within the socialist movement, ref ...
, which led to the PST often being favored by the PRI regime, along with the Popular Socialist Party (PPS), over
revolutionary socialist Revolutionary socialism is a political philosophy, doctrine, and tradition within socialism that stresses the idea that a social revolution is necessary to bring about structural changes in society. More specifically, it is the view that revolu ...
parties like the
Unified Socialist Party of Mexico The Unified Socialist Party of Mexico (, PSUM) was a socialist political party in Mexico. It later became the Mexican Socialist Party () in 1988. History The PSUM was founded in November 1981 by the merger of four socialist parties: *The Mexican ...
(PSUM). Writer and journalist Humberto Musacchio accused the PST of posing as a left-wing party to take votes from other parties on the left and protect the PRI. The internal conflicts in the PST continued to grow. In January 1987, members of the PST proposed changing its name to the Cardenista Party of the Mexican Workers in an effort to move away from President
Miguel de la Madrid Miguel de la Madrid Hurtado (; 12 December 1934 – 1 April 2012) was a Mexican politician affiliated with the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) who served as the 59th president of Mexico from 1982 to 1988. Inheriting a severe economic an ...
and the PRI.Bruhn, p. 110 However, due to their history of working with the PRI, the PST and the PPS were not invited to join the five political entities (including the PSUM) which merged that April to became the
Mexican Socialist Party The Mexican Socialist Party (, PMS) was a left-wing Mexican political party, and one of the immediate antecedents of the present Party of the Democratic Revolution. It was the last effort to unify the different Mexican left-wing parties, as well a ...
(PMS). That same month, the PST expelled one of its founders, Graco Ramírez, from the party after he criticized their "servility" to the PRI.Bruhn, p. 328 He refused to recognize the motion. Instead, the PST split into two factions led by Ramírez and by Rafael Aguilar Talamantes, with the Ramírez faction later expelling Aguilar Talamantes in May.Bruhn, p. 329 The Ramírez faction also elected Jesús Ortega as "their" PST president. After months of infighting, Ramírez and his followers left the party in July to join the PMS as its sixth integrant.Bolívar Meza, p. 213 In November 1987, what remained of the PST was renamed the
Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction The Party of the Cardenist Front of National Reconstruction (; PFCRN) also known as Cardenista Party from 1996-1997, was a list of political parties in Mexico, Mexican political party that arose during the 1989 elections, having evolved from the co ...
(PFCRN). The PFCRN joined the National Democratic Front coalition and endorsed its presidential nominee,
Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Cuauhtémoc Cárdenas Solórzano (; born 1 May 1934) is a Mexicans, Mexican politician and civil engineer. A prominent Social democracy, social-democrat and the son of 51st president of Mexico Lázaro Cárdenas, he is a former List of heads of ...
, in the 1988 election. The PFCRN was later renamed the Cardenista Party, though it lost its registry after the following 1997 legislative election.


Presidents


References

{{Reflist Defunct political parties in Mexico Socialist parties in Mexico Defunct socialist parties in North America Political parties established in 1975 Political parties disestablished in 1987 1975 establishments in Mexico 1987 disestablishments in Mexico