Fourth International Posadist
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The Fourth International Posadist is a
Posadism attempts to introduce elements of
History
Origins
When the Fourth International (FI) split in 1953, Posadas and his followers sided with
There was a significant Posadist group in Cuba. Posadist guerrillas fought alongside Castro and Che Guevara in the 1959 revolution. When the Posadists split from the Fourth International in 1962, they took the Cuban section with them, meaning no other Trotskyist group was represented in Cuba in the 1960s.[citation needed]
The Posadist group was accused by Soviet-friendly forces in Cuba of arguing that the Cuban government should forcibly expel the American military base at
Decline and resurgence
In the late 1960s, the Posadists became increasingly interested in UFOs, claiming they were evidence of socialism on other planets.[4] The organization soon began to wane in influence and membership, aided by an increasingly paranoid Posadas who expelled many of its members by 1975.[11]
Posadas' death in 1981 meant the virtual dissolution of the organization, with only a few isolated groups continuing to operate to the present day.
In recent years (as of 2018), interests in the Posadists, particularly in regard to their views in ufology, has increased. Several satirical and non-satirical "neo-Posadist" groups emerged on social media, making Posadas "one of the most recognizable names in the history of Trotskyism".[11][14]
Theories
Posadist society
Posadists advocate for a society akin to those proposed by general Marxist theory. A proletarian revolution will destroy the bourgeois state, replacing it with a socialist state.[4]
Nuclear first strike
At the height of the Cold War, Posadas thought that nuclear war was inevitable. He asserted that the nuclear-armed socialist states should launch a preemptive nuclear attack that would destroy the nuclear capabilities of capitalist countries. Additionally, he believed that a nuclear catastrophe between the United States and USSR would spark the world revolution.[9][15]
Posadas vocally opposed the Partial Test Ban Treaty signed in 1963 by the United States, the USSR, and the United Kingdom, believing that a nuclear war between the US and the USSR was inevitable and desirable, and would create the conditions for socialism, with the "workers' states" winning and resetting society.[16][17]
Scientific progress
Posadas was highly interested in the way scientific advancement could improve human lives when used for the common good, rather than for profit. In an essay written entitled "Childbearing in space, the confidence of humanity, and Socialism" (1978), he espoused his vision of a Utopian future under the guidance of science:
"Humanity feels pressed and oppressed by the straightjacket that imprisons science. For science is oppressed! The capitalists oppress science by using it to kill people. When science is liberated – it will not be long, in only a few years – we will wipe out all the problems, floods, hunger, and misery. All this could already be done, and it will not be long before we do. And when we do, everyone will be an architect, an engineer, a doctor, and the like."
— Posadas (1978)[18]
Posadas was also a supporter of space exploration by the former USSR and the People's Republic of China. He praised an alleged plan by the USSR to have a woman give birth in space, considering such endeavors the mark of an advanced society, that is on a path of eliminating primal needs such as survival, security and comfort:
"If we have already the audacity to envisage childbearing in space, it is because we feel part of a quest that transcends life on Earth."
— Posadas[18]
These views are in line with the more mainstream positions of Russian cosmism and transhumanism.[18][19]
Ufology
UFOs and ufology |
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Notable sightings and hoaxes |
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Conspiracy theories |
Religions |
Lists of organizations, sightings, studies, etc. |
Posadas was the author of a number of works with an unconventional slant and towards the end of his life he tried to create a synthesis of
Believing visiting aliens to be naturally non-violent and only here to observe, Posadas argues that humans must call on them to intervene in solving the Earth's problems, namely "to suppress poverty, hunger, unemployment and war, to give everyone the means to live in dignity and to lay the bases for human fraternity". The means to achieving this end remained within the mainstream Trotskyist and included ending capitalism as well as the bureaucracy of the workers' states and establishing a socialist society.[3][20]
Despite Posadas himself never publishing anything on the subject after 1968,[a] ufology nonetheless became an important part of Posadism. After his death in 1981, some Posadists continued to explore the subject, notably Dante Minazzoli,[21] Paul Schulz, and Werner Grundmann.[14][22] Others, however, have distanced themselves from the more unconventional notions and have claimed that Posadas' interest in extraterrestrial life was a marginal point that was blown out of proportions.[9]
Member parties
The Fourth International Posadist claims the following parties as members.[23] It is unknown how many of these organisations still exist or how many members they have. However it is unlikely there are more than a hundred members of the Posadist movement throughout the world. The organization currently lists contacts in Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay, however only Uruguay has a functioning party.[24]
- Revolutionary Workers Party(Partido Obrero Revolucionario)
Defunct
- Argentina – Revolutionary Workers' Party Posadist (Partido Obrero Revolucionario – Posadista)
- Belgium – Revolutionary Worker's Party – Trotskyist (Parti Ouvrier Révolutionnaire – Trotskiste)
- Bolivia – Revolutionary Workers' Party Trotskyist–Posadist (Partido Obrero Revolucionario (Trotskista Posadista))
- Brazil – Brazilian Section of the Trotskyist–Posadist IVth International (Seção Brasileira da IV Internacional Trotskista–Posadista)
- Britain – Revolutionary Workers' Party (Trotskyist)[25]
- Chile – Revolutionary Workers' Party (Posadist) (Partido Obrero Revolucionario (Posadista))
- Colombia – Posadist Trotskyist Workers Party (Partido Obrero Trotskista Posadista)
- Cuba – Revolutionary Workers' Party (Trotskyist) – (Partido Obrero Revolucionario (Trotskista))
- France – Revolutionary Communist Party (Trotskyist) – (Parti Communiste Révolutionnaire (Trotskyiste))
- Posadist Communist Party(Posadistische Kommunistische Partei)
- Greece – Revolutionary Communist Party–Posadists (Epanastatiko Kommounistiko Komma-Posadistes)
- Italy – Revolutionary Communist Party (Trotskyist–Posadist) – (Partito Comunista Rivoluzionario (Trotzkista–Posadista))
- Mexico – Revolutionary Workers' Party (Trotskyist) – (Partido Obrero Revolucionario (Trotskista))
- Peru – Revolutionary Workers' Party (Partido Obrero Revolucionario (Trotskista))
- Spain – Revolutionary Worker's Party (Trotskyist–Posadist) – (Partido Obrero Revolucionario (Trotskista–Posadista))
- United States – Revolutionary Workers Party (Trotskyist–Posadist)
See also
- Andromeda, novel by Ivan Yefremov
- List of Trotskyist internationals
- International Committee of the Fourth International
- Nazi UFOs
- Joaquín Trincado Mateo
- UFO conspiracy theory
Notes
- ^ As the conditions of his stay in Italy formally prevented Posadas from undertaking any political activity, all articles written between 1968 and his 1981 death in Paris have appeared with the dateline "1968."
References
- ISBN 978-0-8108-7018-5 – via Google Books.
- ^ Gittlitz, A.M. (4 April 2020). "J. Posadas, the Trotskyist Who Believed in Intergalactic Communism". Jacobin. Retrieved 24 June 2020.
- ^ a b c Posadas, J. (1968). Les soucoupes volantes, le processus de la matière et de l'énergie, la science, la lutte de classes et revolutionnaire et le future socialiste de l'humanité [Flying Saucers, the Process of Matter and Energy, Science, the Revolutionary and Working-class Struggle and the Socialist Future of Mankind]. Paris: Éditions Réed.
- ^ a b c d Nikolaou, Kiveli (15 September 2014). "Posadists Believe that Socialism Can Only Be Established With the Help of Aliens". Vice. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-8223-1066-2.
michel pablo posadas 1953.
- ISBN 0-8223-1066-X.
- ISBN 978-1-317-36894-6 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 0-8223-1066-X.
- ^ a b c d Wenz, John (5 August 2021). "UFOs, dolphins, nuclear war and communism: the stranger than sci-fi political party". SYFY WIRE. Archived from the original on 5 August 2021. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ Castro, Fidel (15 January 1966). "At the Closing Session of the Tricontinental Conference". Marxists Internet Archive. Retrieved 4 March 2019 – via University of Texas: Fidel Castro Speech Database.
- ^ a b Gittlitz, A. M. (9 April 2018). "A critical assessment of the former Latin American Bureau tendency within the Fourth International [Translated by Nicolas Allen, annotated by A.M. Gittlitz]". Marxists Interne Archive. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-5814-8 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Homage to Brian McNeal: The Posadist IV International in Britain Renders Homage to Its Dead Comrade". Posadists Today. 9 January 2016. Retrieved 4 March 2019.
- ^ a b Gittlitz, A. M. (14 July 2018). "The secret history of Marxist alien hunters". The Outline. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ISBN 978-0-283-97800-5 – via Google Books.
- ISBN 978-1-900007-47-4.
- ISBN 978-0-688-00315-9 – via Google Books.
- ^ a b c Posadas, J. (1978). Childbearing in space, the confidence of humanity, and Socialism (PDF).
- ISBN 978-1-4456-6263-3.
- ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 3 March 2019.
- ^ Minazzoli, Dante (1989). Perché gli extraterrestri non-prendono contatto pubblicamente?: Come vede un marxista il fenomeno degli UFO [Why do extraterrestrials not make public contact? How does a Marxist view the phenomenon of UFOs] (in Italian). Milano: Editrice Nuovi Autori.
- ISBN 978-1-4422-3798-8 – via Google Books.
- ^ "Posadist 4th International". Archived from the original on 18 February 2015. Retrieved 14 April 2015.
- ^ "跑狗图|993994跑狗网 localhost|高清跑狗图新版 993994". cuartainternacionalposadista.org. Archived from the original on 28 November 2021. Retrieved 16 September 2017.
- ISBN 978-0-8264-5814-8.