Party for Socialism and Liberation

Party for Socialism and Liberation
Founded	June 2004
Headquarters	San Francisco, California; Washington, D.C.
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism Proletarian internationalism
Political position	Far-left
Website
pslweb.org
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The Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) is a Marxist-Leninist political party in the United States. It was created as the result of a split within the ranks of Workers World Party (WWP). The San Francisco branch and several other members left WWP in June 2004, announcing that "the Workers World Party leadership is no longer capable of fulfilling that mission [of building socialism]". The PSL has since established two national offices in Washington, D.C. and in San Francisco alongside 23 local branches across the country. In 2008, Gloria La Riva and Eugene Puryear ran for President and Vice President on the first PSL ticket. In November 2011, Peta Lindsay and Yari Osorio were announced as the PSL's presidential ticket in 2012.

Views

Domestic social policy

The PSL sees as its main goal the formation of a revolutionary workers' party, based upon the ideology of Marxism-Leninism. This party would lead a revolution and pave the way towards socialism. Under socialism a new government of working people would be formed. The PSL proposes many radical changes to be implemented by this government. In the political sphere all elected representatives should be recallable, securing freedom of speech for the working class (except in the case of xenophobia or bigotry and to prevent re-establishment of the capitalist system) and the elimination of corporate influence from politics.

Concerning economics the PSL would, among other measures, prohibit the exploitation of labor for private profit, implement a working week of 30 hours and the eradication of poverty through the introduction of a basic income guarantee. The PSL would grant the right of self-determination to all oppressed nations of the US, such as "African Americans, Native, Puerto Rican and other Latino national minorities, the Hawaiian nation, Asian, Pacific Islander, Arab and other oppressed peoples who have experienced oppression as a whole people under capitalism". The current US "colonies", which according to the PSL are "Puerto Rico, Samoa, Guam, the Virgin Islands and the Mariana Islands", will be granted independence. The PSL would end the occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and close all foreign military bases of the US.

International affairs

Historically, the PSL is generally positive on the former Soviet Union, describing the October Revolution as "the single biggest event that shaped global politics in the 20th century". The PSL acknowledges that the New Economic Policy of Vladimir Lenin led "to a re-polarization of social classes, especially in the countryside". The PSL blames the reforms initiated by Mikhail Gorbachev for the fall of the Soviet Union.

The PSL supports the government of Cuba, and while critical of the current Chinese government, it views the Chinese Revolution favorably. The PSL also supports the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela – a frequent topic in its magazine. It has endorsed activities that call for the release of the Cuban Five – deemed political prisoners by supporters – and called for the extradition of Luis Posada Carriles from the US.

The PSL supports the rights of nations to self determination. It has been outspoken in condemning the state of Israel and its role in the Middle East. The PSL also led demonstrations against the Israeli invasion of Lebanon in July 2006. The PSL supports the right of return for Palestinian people.

Antiwar movement

The PSL is a member of the steering committee of the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism Coalition (A.N.S.W.E.R.). As one of the most active members of the coalition, PSL has gained notice for successfully forging ties with Arab and Muslim American groups such as the Muslim American Society, Al-Awda and the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee.

Office locations

The national offices of the Party for Socialism and Liberation are based in San Francisco, California and Washington, D.C.

The PSL also maintains branches and centers in Austin, TX; Albuquerque, NM; Baltimore, MD; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; San Diego, San Jose, Santa Cruz, Inland Empire and Los Angeles, CA; Miami, FL; New Haven, CT; New Paltz and New York City (Harlem), NY; Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, PA; Phoenix, AZ; Seattle, WA; Sioux Falls, SD; and St. Louis, MO.

Electoral participation

The PSL often fields candidates for public office. However, because of most states' difficult ballot access rules, the party sometimes uses the ballot line of a different party or is on the ballot as an independent. The PSL has used the ballot line of the Green Party or the Peace and Freedom Party in the past. The party did manage to get on the ballot in 12 states for the 2008 presidential elections, with Gloria La Riva and Eugene Puryear as respectively president and vice president. The PSL managed to gain 6,821 votes, finishing 10th, out of a field of 23 candidates . Below is a selection of other races that the PSL have contested.

Year	Office	Candidate	On the ballot as	Votes	Position
2008	Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, District 4	Marylou Cabral	Non-partisan	23,703 (17.5%)	2/3
2008	California State Assembly, District 48	Lucilla Esguerra	Peace and Freedom Party	11,173 (12.90%)	2/2
2008	Illinois House of Representatives, District 40	Heather Benno	Green Party	2,276 (10.07%)	3/3
2008	Illinois House of Representatives, district 14	John Beacham	Green Party	4,745 (14.5%)	2/2
2008	President of the United States	Gloria La Riva & Eugene Puryear	Party for Socialism and Liberation	6,821 (0.00%)	10/23
2009	Mayor of Los Angeles	Carlos Alvarez	Non-partisan	3,047 (1.11%)	8/10
2009	Mayor of New York City	Francisca Villar	Party for Socialism and Liberation	3,517 (0.3%)	5/8
2010	Governor of California	Carlos Alvarez	Peace and Freedom Party	92,856 (0.9%)	6/6
2010	Mayor of Long Beach	Stevie Merino	Independent	5,057 (16%)	2/2
2010	Ohio House of Representatives	Corey Ansel	Green Party	716 (1.4%)	4/4
2012	President of the United States	Peta Lindsay & Yari Osorio	Party for Socialism and Liberation	9,388 (0.01%)	11/27

Lindsay-Osorio campaign

The party's 2012 ticket for President listed Peta Lindsay, a 28 year old activist and educator who is constitutionally barred from serving as President if elected due to her age, and Yari Osorio, who was born in Colombia and is unable to serve if elected because he was born outside of the United States. Lindsay/Osorio were denied access to the Peace and Freedom Party's primary in California for this reason. The PSL is on the ballot in 13 states (Arkansas, Colorado, Florida, Iowa, Louisiana, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Utah, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin).

Publications

The party's main publication is the biweekly newspaper, Liberation, which replaced a quarterly magazine, Socialism and Liberation PSL outlines its political perspective, including its assessment of the current international and domestic situation in the pamphlet "Who We Are, What We Stand For".

See also

• List of political parties in the United States

External links

• plsweb.org Party's official website (released July 2006)
• AnswerCoalition.org official site
• VotePSL.org PSL 2012 electoral candidates' website
• Socialism and Liberation Magazine