Puerto Rican Communist Party

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For the party founded in 2010, see Communist Party of Puerto Rico.
Puerto Rican Communist Party
Partido Comunista Puertorriqueño
Founded1934 (1934)
Dissolved1991 (1991)
NewspaperLucha Obrera ("Workers' Struggle")
IdeologyCommunism
Marxism–Leninism
Anti-imperialism
Puerto Rican independence
Political positionFar-left
Colours  Red
Slogan"Pan, Tierra, y Libertad" ("Bread, Land, and Liberty")

The Puerto Rican Communist Party (in Spanish: Partido Comunista Puertorriqueño, PCP) was a communist party in Puerto Rico founded in 1934 following the sugar strikes on the island that same year. Relevant members include General Secretary , president , and the notable Dr. . The party emerges out of a turbulent political moment where faith in previous workers parties and organizations, such as the Socialist Party and the Free Federation of Workers, was waning and the Puerto Rican economy was experiencing a downturn. While membership remained small, the PCP interacted and influenced the labor and political space of mid-20th century Puerto Rico as well as political spaces outside of the island. These interactions include those with the Popular Democratic Party, The Communist Party of the United States of America, and the Nationalist Party of Puerto Rico.

While the goal of the party was initially radical and revolutionary, the adoption of the popular front (popular democratic front) strategy and relationship with the CPUSA changed its party approach towards pragmatism. However, the sentiment for a republic that managed the economy in the interests of workers, was industrious, and modern, remained.[1]

Political Context[]

Puerto Rico faced a political instability in the 1930's characterized by colonial state corruption and violence, in conjunction with economic deterioration in the midst of the Great Depression. The domination of the monocultural sugar industry on the island attributed greatly to this general instability by way of market fluctuations.[1] A facet of this economic decline included a worsening condition for the island's workers who, during this period, experienced "a reduction of wages and unemployment" and generally "deteriorating health conditions."[2] Some scholars such as Villaronga argue that the political parties of the era were working within a U.S. directed colonial political-economic structure, which often constrained their ability to govern and the public's ability to influence policy.[1] Thus, the parties were unable to adequately respond to the apparent difficulties of the island stressed by the Great Depression. As a result, the political parties generally focused their efforts on debating the status of the island, i.e. whether it was to remain an unincorporated territory or become incorporated into the Union as a state, which in it of itself represented varying economic interests.[1]

Frustration with the colonial government to reform the state of affairs gave rise to mass social movements among Puerto Rican workers throughout the 1930's. The PCP emerges following various worker and student led general strikes in 1934 and 1935.[3] The party establishes itself as a counter to the Socialist Party, who had formed an alliance, known as The Coalition (Spanish: La Coalición), with the Republican Party due to their shared objective of becoming a part of the Union as well as ensuring that their opponent, the pro-independence Liberal Party, remained a minority in the legislature.[1] Confidence in the Socialist Party, as well as confidence in their adjacent worker's union, the Free Federation of Workers (FLT) began to wane, as the Socialist Party would continue to compromise with Republican Party sugar interests.[1] In response to the compromises, a worker-lead sugar strike in defiance of both the Socialist Party and the FLT in 1934 would produce various political factions, including the PCP and the Socialist Affirmation group (Spanish: Affirmatión Socialista).[1]

The sugar strike of 1934 is considered by some to be catalyst for communists to form their own party in Puerto Rico.[1] In conjunction with the mid-1930s labor movements, the formation of the PCP was also internationally influenced. The Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA) was supportive of the PCP's founding with additional support from the Communist Party of Cuba (CPC).[3] Indeed, there was a substantial interconnectedness between the CPUSA, Puerto Rican Communists in New York's Lower Manhattan, and the PCP.[3]

Political Agenda, Strategies, and Relations with Other Political Groups[]

Generally, the PCP rhetoric called for a revolutionary, militant movement of workers towards the creation of a Soviet Republic. Practically however, the PCP maintained a 'popular front' or 'popular democratic front' strategy, a strategy introduced to the PCP by CPUSA's Earl Browder, which was a strategy endorsed by the Communist International.[1] Additionally, not all prominent party leaders were strictly proletariats.[3] The early revolutionary rhetoric of the party was abandoned when the PCP gained admission into the Comintern at the Seventh World Congress in held in 1935.[1] As a result of adopting the popular front strategy, the PCP was supportive of the Popular Democratic Party in the mid to late 1930s (Spanish: Partido Popular Democrático; PPD).[1] Initially, the PPD maintained passive relations with workers and labor groups affiliated with Communism and utilized similar campaign language as the PCP.[1] It is argued by some scholars that the PCP should be credited for the PPD's slogan "Bread, Land, and Liberty" as it first appeared in the PCP's newspaper Lucha Obrera as "Bread-Land-Liberty" in 1935.[1] However, by 1940, the PPD officially rejected the PCP, although this was not an exclusion exclusive to the PCP. Following this, the PPD critiqued the PCP due to their stances on private property, religion, relationship with the USSR, as well as general accusations against the PPD which claimed the PPD was a communist party.[1] In response, the PCP attempted to maintain an anti-imperialist front and continued to advocate for reform.[1]

The PCP worked to mobilize workers and their revolutionary agenda morphed into focusing on the needs of the party's rank and file who favored immediate improvements and reforms over a systemic economic overhaul. Additionally, the PCP facilitated connections between worker's groups in an attempt to achieve a united workers front.[1] Indeed, the party was especially invested in inciting workers strikes.[4] The PCP worked closely with the General Confederation of Workers (Spanish: Confederación General de Trabajadores; CGT), whose formation was largely a result of PCP member efforts.[4] During the 1930s, both heavily criticized the Socialist Party and FLT. The PCP and the CGT claimed that both the Socialist Party and the FLT had betrayed workers for their agreements with the Sugar Producers' Association (Spanish: Asociación de Productores de Azúcar).[1]

The influence of the CPUSA is notable in relation to the PCP. The influence of Earl Browder and the popular front strategy made the PCP tend to side with liberals and progressives, and led to its brief dissolution in 1944 during World War II following the CPUSA's decision to dissolve.[1][4] Puerto Rican communist Juan Antonio Corretjer argued that the PCP's attachment to the CPUSA prevented it from becoming a strong worker's vanguard.[4] Corretjer emphasized that the strong dominance of the Socialist Party and it's legacy was ultimately too great for the PCP to gain a large foothold in the Puerto Rican political space.[4]

With respect to the independence movement, the PCP was supportive of the Nationalist Party and the efforts of Pedro Albizu Campos; the parties were allies on the grounds of anti-imperialism.[3] Juan Santos Rivera, PCP president, endorsed the Pro Independence Congress (Spanish: Congreso Pro Independencia) resolutions introduced in the 1940s and other officials, such as Jose Lanauze Rolón, were believers in Puerto Rican sovereignty.[1]

The PCP utilized their newspaper periodical Lucha Obrera (Worker's Struggle) in order to communicate their agendas and messages to the public. The paper was brief, however, it served to document the PCP's ongoing movements and objectives.[3]

References[]

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s Villaronga, Gabriel (2004). Toward a Discourse of Consent: Mass Mobilization and Colonial Politics in Puerto Rico, 1932-1948 (Contributions in Latin American Studies). Westport: Praeger Publishers.
  2. ^ Villaronga, Gabriel (2004). Toward a Discourse of Consent: Mass Mobilization and Colonial Politics in Puerto Rico, 1932-1948 (Contributions in Latin American Studies). Westport: Praeger Publishers. p. 9.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Stevens, Margaret (2017). Red International and Black Caribbean: Communists in New York City, Mexico and the West Indies, 1919-1939. 233, 235-236: Pluto Press.CS1 maint: location (link)
  4. ^ a b c d e Juan, Mari Bras (1980). "Albizu Campos: His Historical Significance," in Intellectual Roots of Independence: An Anthology of Puerto Rican Political Essays. New York: Monthly Review Press.

External links[]

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