—The Socialist Workers’ Party of Colombia (PST)
To celebrate the 48th anniversary of the PST, we are publishing an article by Editson Romero Angulo from his blog, El Humanitario. We thank him for his contribution.
This article offers a critical and documentary reflection on the PST’s 48 years in Colombia, from its founding on September 23, 1977, to its current state. It discusses the PST’s Trotskyist ideological genealogy, its union and student militancy practices, and relevant historical milestones, including its participation in the Simón Bolívar Brigade to Nicaragua in 1979. The article also covers the PST’s involvement in labor and teachers’ movements and its positions on recent electoral processes and public policies. The article combines a review of primary sources from the PST itself, academic works, and journalistic materials to evaluate continuities, ruptures, and strategic challenges in the Colombian political context, which is marked by polarization, post-agreement transitions, and the recomposition of the left.
Introduction
The PST formally emerged in Bogotá in the late 1970s as the most visible Trotskyist political organization in Colombia. Its founders sought to combine intervention in labor and student struggles with a programmatic orientation based on the tradition of revolutionary Marxism, particularly the Morenist currents of the Fourth International. Over nearly five decades, the PST has developed practices aimed at organic construction within trade unions, student organizations, and the teaching profession. At the same time, the PST has engaged in debates and experienced tensions with other Colombian leftist groups regarding electoral tactics and alliances with reformist projects.
Origins and Ideological Matrix
The PST was founded on September 23, 1977, during a period of intense social mobilization in Colombia and an international response to repression in Argentina and other countries in the region. The PST was established as the local arm of the Bolshevik Faction of the Fourth International, advocating the permanent mobilization of the working class and the formation of a revolutionary mass party. The PST’s program explicitly refers to Trotskyist concepts such as permanent revolution and the Transitional Program.
Historical milestones include the Simón Bolívar Brigade and the internationalization of the struggle
An early event that marked the identity of the PST was the organization and dispatch of the Simón Bolívar Brigade to support the Nicaraguan Revolution in 1979. This event reveals the party’s internationalist nature but also the practical tensions between its policy of union and worker intervention and the local revolutionary processes of other countries. In some cases, these processes rejected the intervention of international brigades due to tactical differences. This experience had political consequences, including persecution and repression, and shaped internal debates on internationalism and solidarity.
Trade union and educational activism involves the teaching profession and labor sectors
Throughout its history, the PST has focused much of its work on organizing within the labor movement, particularly among education workers. There, it has led teachers’ fronts, participated in strikes, and engaged in campaigns. The PST has also worked in industrial sectors, such as food and metalworking, as well as in universities. This strategy of “factory and classroom work” has allowed the PST to influence local and regional union debates. However, it has always been in tension with majority union leaderships, as well as labor and political legislation that limits the electoral impact of minority parties.
Electoral strategies and relations with left-wing coalitions
Historically, the PST has maintained a critical position toward class conciliation coalitions. However, in recent years (2018–2022 and beyond), the PST has adopted “critical voting” tactics in electoral processes where popular sectors favored reformist candidates. Simultaneously, the PST has proposed alternative political tools, such as the call for a constituent assembly, as an option to the 1991 political regime. These positions reflect the tension between the strategic autonomy of the revolutionary left and the tactical pressures of electoral cycles and social movements.
Contributions to academia and journalism
The PST has left behind an archive of magazines, newsletters, and texts (e.g., El Socialista and IWL materials), which constitute primary sources for historians and political scientists interested in the history of the left in Colombia. Recent academic research has reconstructed transnational militant trajectories and links with Argentine and Spanish currents, providing context for understanding the circulation of political practices among Latin American movements.
Contemporary tensions and challenges
The PST faces several challenges today: 1) expanding its influence beyond trade union and student circles in order to contest hegemony in neighborhoods and popular sectors, 2) managing relations with broader coalitions without diluting its programmatic identity, 3) incorporating debates on gender, plurinationality, and environmental ecology from an anti-capitalist perspective, and 4) operating within a legal and media framework that limits the visibility and electoral participation of minority parties. These issues are common to many revolutionary left-wing organizations in Latin America.
Conclusion
Forty-eight years after its founding, the PST remains a relevant case study for understanding the strategies of the revolutionary left in contexts of political fragmentation and ongoing social mobilization. The PST’s history combines ideological coherence, organizational practices focused on union and educational work, internationalist episodes, and ongoing tactical debates. Despite its small size compared to majority forces, the PST’s persistence provides valuable militant memory and organizational resources for social movements in Colombia.
Glossary (key terms):
Trotskyism: A Marxist theory that upholds Leon Trotsky’s political positions, particularly the theory of permanent revolution and the critique of Stalinism.
Bolshevik Faction/Nahuel Moreno: currents of the Fourth International linked to Latin American leaders who influenced the creation of the PST.
LIT-CI (International Workers’ League–Fourth International): An international organization with which the PST has historically been linked..
Bibliography (academic and documentary selection):
Aiziczon, F. “Transitional Militancy between Spain and Argentina.”
Osuna, M. F. “The Political Practices of the Socialist Workers’ Party.” Thesis/Research, approx. 2015.
Díaz, A. V. P., “Memories of the Teachers’ Mobilization in Colombia.” RHEC Magazine, University of Nariño (historical analysis of the teaching profession).
Webography (official, partisan, journalistic, and union sources consulted):
Socialist Workers’ Party (official website/magazine).
PST-Colombia — commemorative article and historical archives in LIT-CI.
Encyclopedia entry: Socialist Workers’ Party (Colombia), Wikipedia.
Publications and analyses of union and teacher interventions on the PST website.
The Colombian Federation of Education Workers (FECODE) provides union documentation and communiqués in the context of teachers.
