By: Workers’ Communist Party (Italy)

THE UNITY OF REVOLUTIONARY MARXISTS WORLDWIDE KEEPS ADVANCING

The congress of the ITO (International Trotskyist Opposition), held in Rimini on May 23, 24, and 25, decided by a very large majority to dissolve itself in order to converge with the International Socialist League (ISL). This marks a step forward in the unity of Trotskyists throughout the world.

The decision taken by the ITO is consistent with its basic approach. The ITO was a small international organization (present in Italy, the United States, Denmark, Great Britain, France, and Hungary), in which the PCL (Partito Comunista dei Lavoratori) was its main section. It has always fought for revolutionary international regroupment, on the basis of a shared program and common principles among all organizations and tendencies that hold the same program—regardless of their origins—under Leninist democratic centralism. This orientation runs counter to the absurd logic of fragmentation into many self-centered mini-internationals that, unfortunately, has characterized a large portion of the Trotskyist movement, even its revolutionary wing.

It was on those basis  that the ITO drew closer to the ISL. The ISL is an international revolutionary Marxist organization active in 40 countries across all continents. It was formed in 2019 through international regroupment, based on a shared programmatic foundation, of organizations with different histories and backgrounds: it began with Argentina’s strong Movimiento Socialista de los Trabajadores (MST), stemming from the “Morenist” tradition, and The Struggle, a considerably sizable organization in Pakistan from the “Grant” tradition. Its rapid expansion has included, among others, organizations that broke away from Stalinism, such as the Kenyan and Lebanese sections of the ISL—both emerging from youth splits in the “communist” parties of their respective countries.

Two years of intense political debate with the ISL allowed us to confirmnot only our common programmatic basis and shared organizational approach, but also a united analysis of world events in all their crucial aspects: starting with our understanding of the conflict between old and new imperialist powers as the key that unlocks the international scenario. Our shared stance on the complex crisis in Ukraine, opposing Russian imperialism’s invasion and any imperialist partition of the country; our joint declaration on the Palestinian issue, demanding a revolutionary overthrow of the Zionist state; our common position on the Indo-Pakistani war, endorsing a policy of bilateral defeatism; and our mutual fight against imperialist rearmament and all war economies—these points demonstrated not only our shared fundamental positions on global developments, but also our ability to correctly apply the Leninist method in all its dimensions. This stands in opposition to any campist or semi-campist approach, any subordination to “imperialist” pacifism, and any anti-Leninist denial of national rights for oppressed peoples.

The same is true of the overarching, common approach to intervention in class struggle, in labor unions, in the feminist and transfeminist movements, in the environmental movement: linking the immediate demands of each proletarian or progressive movement to the revolutionary perspective of a workers’ government—”of workers and working people”—and opposing any subordination to reformist, petty-bourgeois, or classless proposals. Hence, the central role of transitional demands and the transitional method. It is no coincidence that the ITO congress had convergence with the ISL regarding its intervention strategy on gender issues, starting from the rich discussion of the important document presented by our female comrades, unanimously approved by the Congress.

The confluence of the ITO into the ISL is all the more significant since it is not an isolated occurrence. The League for the Fifth International—which comes from the tradition of the British Workers Power group and is present today in multiple countries (Germany, Great Britain, Switzerland, Pakistan, etc.)—has also engaged with the ISL in view of a possible merger, sharing with the ISL and the ITO the aforementioned statements and the political debate that has accompanied them. This gave rise to the “optimistic” prediction shared by the League’s delegates at our congress regarding the likelihood of soon joining the ISL.

And there is more. The merger already concluded between the ITO and the ISL, as well as the highly likely one with the League—running counter to the trend of sectarian fragmentation—can, in turn, enhance the ISL’s ability to draw in other important revolutionary organizations across various countries and continents. Many have already expressed interest and a positive response to the current regroupment process. The ISL’s objective is not to preserve its own existence but to work toward building a new revolutionary International as an alternative leadership for the class vanguard on a global scale. “Collecting the best of the different Trotskyist traditions in order to construct a new one together” is the declared goal of the ISL, and at the same time a necessary step toward the new International.

Finally, the confluence of the ITO into the ISL is of paramount importance for the Workers’s Communist Party It provides another reason to motivate our militant organization and revive its capacity for outreach and growth. Therefore, today more than ever we invite all comrades who share our project to strengthen the PCL, now the Italian section of the International Socialist League. The time is now. We invite our supporters to become members, thereby gaining full voting rights during the ISL World Congress to be held at the end of 2025. We likewise encourage many of our contacts and sympathizers to set aside any remaining doubts and join the PCL in whichever way they freely choose.

The prospect of building a new revolutionary International has taken an important step forward. Let us move forward together on this new path.