Socialist Parties of Argentina

The Socialist Party of Argentina (SPA) was founded in 1896 by J. Justo, A. Kuhn, G. Muller, G. Lallemant, and J. Ingenieros. The party promoted Marxism, called for progressive changes in Argentine society, and advocated better conditions for working people. In 1898, under the direction of Justo, the first president of the SPA, the first volume of Marx’ Das Kapital was translated into Spanish for the first time. During World War I some SPA leaders turned to reformism and abandoned the struggle for better conditions for the workers. They adopted a hostile attitude toward Russia’s Great October Socialist Revolution. Such policies aroused deep dissatisfaction among rank-and-file members of the party and led to a split in the party.

In 1918 the leaders of the revolutionary left wing, including V. Codovilla, R. Ghioldi, Kuhn, and Muller, founded the International Socialist Party, which was soon renamed the Communist Party of Argentina. Between the two world wars, the SPA underwent a number of internal crises, which weakened its influence considerably. Responding to popular sentiment during World War II (1939-45), the party’s leaders advocated unity among antifascist forces. However, their inconsistency and conciliatory policy led to another split in the party. The socialist leaders collaborated with the dictatorial regimes established after the ouster of J. Peron in 1955, which weakened the party’s influence still further. In 1957 and 1958 different attitudes within the party resulted in a series of splits.

In early 1976 there were several socialist parties active in Argentina. The Social Democratic Party belongs to the Socialist International and maintains an anticommunist position. The Popular Socialist Party has two wings; the left wing works in a progressive mass organization, the Union of the Argentine People, while the right wing supports the Justicialist Party. The Socialist Workers’ Party has Trotskyist elements in its leadership. After the coup of March 1976, the socialist parties and all other political parties were banned.