Wed Feb 19, 2025
February 19, 2025

Let’s organize a class-based, socialist, internationalist and revolutionary tool of the working class in El Salvador!

For the Working Class Platform – El Salvador

The revolutionaries of the International Workers League – Fourth International in El Salvador have made an effort to reorganize revolutionaries around a working-class party. It is necessary to clarify the four pillars necessary in the construction of a working-class party in the face of the grave situation of dictatorship that the country is experiencing. The four pillars are class-based independence, socialism, internationalism, and a revolutionary character. We want to organize only working-class people and we will defend only the interests of the working class. Everything is based on these four pillars.

A class-based party

From the time we go to school, we are taught that we are all equal. Article 3 of the Constitution of El Salvador states that we are all equal before the law, that we are all citizens and that we have the same rights. In the PT we believe that this is a big lie, we are not all equal. For us there are two main types of people that make up two social classes. The first, the most numerous, is the working class. These are the people like us who live by our own work, who go to work 5, 6 or even 7 days a week for 8, 9, 12 or even more hours in exchange for a salary. We are also those who, by our own initiative, try to provide for our families by working on our own, that is, we live by our own efforts and not by the work of others. On the other hand, there is a group of privileged people, a very small group, the bourgeois class. They are the people who live off the labor of others, off our labor. They are the owners of the factories, the companies, the banks, the maquilas, and they become millionaires at the expense of the wealth that our labor produces.

These two social classes have completely opposite interests. On the one hand, we workers want better incomes, better salaries, welfare for our children; on the other hand, they want to be richer, so they do not increase our salaries, they increase the prices of what we consume, they control the laws in their favor. We need healthcare, education and housing, but they do not want to pay taxes to finance these services. We want work, but they want unemployment so they can threaten us with layoffs and a huge army of unemployed people with no rights, no working hours, leaving the best part of their lives on the streets. All of the above problems we see in the country cannot be solved in favor of both social classes. What the bourgeois class has also donw is to solve them in favor of the employers, the big businessmen, and to the detriment of the working class.

In our party, the PT, we only want to organize working class people, and we only want to defend the interests of the working class. That is why we see ourselves as a class-based party.

Most of the parties talk about the common good and what is best for El Salvador, and that they are going to make a government for everyone, and so on. This is a big lie. Although they do not admit it, in reality these are parties of the other class, of the bourgeoisie. They take advantage of the needs that we workers have to make promises so that we workers will vote for them and thus continue to govern for the rich.

All the parties, such as the FMLN, ARENA, PCN, PDC, GANA, VAMOS, NUEVAS IDEAS, etc., use a discourse in which they talk about citizens, about the Salvadoran people. In that way, they try to hide the difference between the working class and the bourgeois class, the businessmen, and they try make us believe that we are all the same. These parties say they want to govern for everyone, but in reality they only govern for the rich.

The only way we workers can achieve better living conditions is through the independent organization and mobilization of the working class, taking our own destiny into our own hands, without any kind of alliance with the bourgeoisie.
As the working class, we must realize that it is not enough to vote for a working class party. The problems that we workers have, such as low wages, the cost of living, arduous work, lack of access to education and health care, etc., are problems that will only be solved if we organize as a class to fight for them, not through the elections that they control.

The other parties tell us that all we have to do is put an X on a piece of paper and they will magically solve our problems for us. This is a lie. The bourgeoisie, dominates everything, the legislative assembly, the courts, the corporations, everything. The only way the life of the workers will change is if we organize and fight for change, nobody will do us any favor.


That is why we want to build the PT and put it at the service of the struggles of the workers, that is our central task. In this context we are also considering participating in the elections so that the workers have the possibility to vote for a party that will defend their interests. But we know that this is not our primary concern.

A socialist party

We in the PT believe that capitalism in some way lays the foundations for socialism. The production of goods and wealth today is social, that is, we produce it together. But the appropriation of that wealth is not social, it is private. For example, the wealth produced by all the workers in a factory is not left to the workers, but to the factory owner, who has done nothing.

On the other hand, the owner of this factory produces whatever he wants in whatever quantity he sees fit, he does not really produce what is needed.
This is what makes capitalism produce more and more misery for the majority of humanity. The only way out is to build a socially planned economy, where the working people as a whole, not a handful of bourgeois and shareholders, decide how, how much, what and why to produce. In other words, a society in which production serves the needs of humanity, not the whims and privileges of a few. The only way to achieve this is to abolish private ownership of the means of production. This does not mean that we do not have the right to have a house, a car, or the things necessary to live well, as some people claim. Rather, it means that large corporations and industries where wealth is produced cannot be privately owned.

After the restoration of capitalism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, imperialism and the national bourgeoisie of the different countries launched a strong offensive to try to convince the working class that socialism had failed and that this was a clear demonstration that capitalism was superior to socialism. This campaign put a lot of pressure on left-wing activists and organizations, and in the end they were defeated and stopped calling for the struggle for socialism and set about the task of “humanizing capitalism” and trying to distribute the wealth. This is the case of the FMLN and the “progressive” parties and governments of Latin America.

From the PT, we believe that wanting to “humanize capitalism”, redistribute wealth, and finally win better conditions for the working class, all without ending capitalism, is a reactionary utopia. It is a utopia because what they propose is impossible to achieve. We believe that capitalism cannot be humanized, that wealth cannot be redistributed under capitalism. We say it is reactionary because these ideas only serve to maintain capitalism and prevent workers from deciding to fight for socialism to the end and instead settling for cosmetic reforms to the system.

Today, more than ever, it is clear that it is impossible to humanize capitalism. Europe, which was the benchmark for “capitalism with a human face,” has shown that this was just a mask and that underneath it was capitalism as it really is: voracious and predatory. In the context of the economic crisis, it is showing its true face and has set out to take away all the gains of the working class by raising the retirement age, cutting health services, increasing poverty and unemployment.
The distribution of wealth is not possible under capitalism either; on the contrary, the rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer.

There are even a handful of corporations that exceed the GDP of most underdeveloped countries.

Some colleagues believe that it is possible to distribute wealth, for example, if we organize and fight, we can win a wage increase, which can be seen as a way of distributing wealth. This is very true, in fact the only way to try to take something away from capitalism is to fight, but we have to take this fight to its ultimate consequences and defeat capitalism itself, otherwise sooner or later we will lose the ground we have gained. This is the case with the ranks, collective agreements, overtime, the right to holidays or the 8-hour workday. These were very important victories for the working class, but as a result of the deterioration of the capitalist economy, they are increasingly a thing of the past, and every bourgeois government that comes along takes these victories away from us.

That is why it is not enough to fight for better conditions for the working class, we must fight to destroy capitalism and build a new socialist society in which these victories are permanent.

An internationalist party

Internationalism is based on the understanding that the interests of the working class are essentially the same all over the world, and that the struggle for socialism cannot take place in a single country. But beyond solidarity with the struggles of workers anywhere in the world, which is fundamental, we believe that internationalism is realized in the building of the world party of socialist revolution.

Internationalism is not a romantic idea, it is the only conclusion that can be drawn from an analysis of the global character of the capitalist economy. The capitalist economy has been functioning on a global basis since its inception. The world market was created in the process of consolidation of nation-states, at the same time as an international division of labor and exchange of goods. Today, no country can be self-sufficient or operate in economic isolation. We only have to look around to see that much of what we consume is produced in other countries or with materials imported from other countries.

This international functioning of the capitalist economy also makes the class struggle, the struggle between the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, international. Today we see it very clearly, in the context of the global capitalist crisis, under the command of imperialism, the plans of the bourgeoisie in all countries are essentially the same: cuts in social spending (health, education, housing, etc.), raising the retirement age, the reduction or stagnation of wages, an increase in unemployment, etc.. This means that the reaction of the working class cannot be isolated, the reaction of the workers must also be international.

Just as the attacks on the workers are commanded by the different organizations of imperialist domination (IMF, World Bank, OAS, European Union, etc.), we workers must organize ourselves in our own international organization, the world party.
This conclusion is not new. As far back as the Communist Manifesto of 1848, Marx wrote, “Workers of the world, unite!” And it is no accident that the anthem of the working class is called “The Internationale.” Today, however, the majority of organizations that call themselves left have already given up on the defeat of capitalism and are concerned only with passing laws in their national parliaments, and have therefore given up on building a world party.

The PT is a decidedly internationalist party, which is why every step we take is done with the interests of workers not only in El Salvador but around the world in mind. That is why the PT is part of the International Workers League, which is committed to building the world party, the Fourth International.

A revolutionary party

The goal of the PT is to end capitalism and build a socialist society. This is the opposite of what other left-wing parties say, namely that capitalism can be reformed.
The defenders of capitalism say that socialism is utopian. But it is utopian to try to humanize capitalism. It is impossible to have social justice and popular sovereignty within a system based on exploitation and war.

To defend their wealth and profits, the capitalists do not hesitate to massacre the exploited. Capitalism also uses repression to divide the working class and exploit it more effectively.

Revolutionaries fight against machismo, racism, LGBTphobia and the persecution of immigrants and indigenous peoples. We fight to unite the class and end capitalism. Overthrowing this system requires a socialist revolution to expropriate the property of the bankers and other capitalists and to build a collectively-organized economy, democratically controlled by the workers and geared to satisfying the needs of the majority. Revolution is the most urgent and pressing need of humanity if we are to save the world from capitalist barbarism.

Socialism calls for a planned world economy in the service of the workers. With the end of exploitation, it will be possible to put an end to war. Socialism will pave the way for the final end of oppression.

The capitalists say that socialism failed in the former Soviet Union, China and Eastern Europe. But the revolutions in those countries were hijacked by privileged leaders who betrayed the workers, installed brutal dictatorships and then restored capitalism. Socialism has nothing to do with this.

The working class, at the head of the entire working class, will be able to lead the exploited and oppressed to power to build socialism. This role is a consequence of its place in capitalism as the class that produces all the wealth that exists. A revolutionary party seeks to promote the organization, struggle and confidence of the workers in their own power to govern.

The goal of a socialist revolution is to establish a workers government based on popular councils. Socialism will have the broadest democracy: elected representatives will have mandates that can be revoked at any time and will not be able to earn more than a worker or teacher.

Workers can only come to power if they are completely independent. Any alliance with bourgeois sectors, as the FMLN and other left parties have done, is a betrayal that leads to defeat and demoralization. The only alliances that strengthen the workers are with the popular and oppressed sectors and the students.

Disappointed with the FMLN, many rejected all parties and voted for Bukele. This reaction is understandable, but wrong. Social movements and unions are fundamental, but they are not enough to lead the struggle of the working class to put an end to this system.

Only a revolutionary party can transmit the experience of more than two centuries of workers’ struggles and defend the tasks necessary for the workers to take power. The main goal of our party is to organize the workers’ struggle.

We participate in elections to spread socialist ideas and proposals, to strengthen the struggles and the party itself. For us, the election of parliamentarians is subordinate to the struggles, not the other way around. The organization of a revolutionary party requires freedom of discussion and centralized action. A fundamental part of this democracy is that the leaders submit to collective decisions and are supervised by the rank and file.

When we talk about a revolutionary party, it does not mean armed struggle. We believe that it is the direct action of the masses that must take the reins of the revolutionary process and not a handful of men in arms. We do not see armed struggle as a strategy, rather it is a tactic like elections in that it is the people who will decide which path to take, we believe in the direct action of the masses.

El Salvador is again at a crossroads in its history, it is now or never. It is urgent and necessary to build the party of the working class, our time has come.






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