Zhou Songfeng and Zhou Miao: The Communist Party of Argentina's Exploration of the Socialist Road
The Communist Party of Argentina (PCA) was founded on January 6, 1918. Its predecessor was the International Socialist Party of Argentina, which renamed itself the Communist Party of Argentina in 1920 and joined the Communist International. The birth of the PCA represented not only the process of the Sinicization [1]—or rather, the localization—of socialist thought in Argentina but also stood as a powerful symbol of the Argentine working class’s struggle for its own rights and interests. Throughout its development over more than a century, the PCA has remained committed to defending the rights of the grassroots working masses and promoting social justice and progress. In the context of Argentina's political and social transformations, the PCA has not only exerted a profound influence on the working class and intellectuals but has also played a major role in the left-wing movements of Latin America. As a vanguard force in the region, the PCA actively supported regional socialist cooperation and revolutionary causes, promoted the dissemination of socialist thought in Latin America, and provided valuable experience and support for the growth and development of the Latin American Left.
I. Background of Emergence: From the Early Dissemination of Socialist Thought in Argentina to the Development of the Labor Movement
The rise of the PCA was deeply influenced by a specific social context. On one hand, the early dissemination of socialist thought in Argentina laid the theoretical foundation for the rise of socialist movements represented by the PCA; on the other hand, the rise of the working class provided solid class support for the PCA's political activities.
(1) The early dissemination of socialist thought in Argentina Argentina has long been a region of active socialist thought. As early as the 1870s, European socialists, represented by exiled members of the Paris Commune, immigrated here due to political persecution. In 1872, to promote the development of the newly established Argentine section of the International Workingmen's Association (AIT), Karl Marx himself directly dispatched Raymond Wilmart as a special envoy to Buenos Aires to guide the Association's work and undertake the task of spreading socialist ideas. At that time, due to the Argentine government's relaxed immigration policies and a cultural background similar to Europe, a large number of socialist scholars from countries such as France, Spain, Germany, and Italy immigrated following Wilmart. Through publishing newspapers and organizing rallies, they actively publicized socialist thought, bringing concepts of equality, justice, and labor rights into Argentine society. With the deep dissemination of socialist thought, the concept of social justice gradually became an important value for the Argentine middle class in their opposition to oligarchy, constituting a form of "political correctness" for a considerable period. The ideas advocating fairness and social justice took root step by step, laying a solid ideological foundation for the early rise of the Argentine socialist and left-wing movements. This also provided the necessary cultural conditions for the later establishment of left-wing and socialist organizations, including the PCA, ensuring that left-wing organizations could always occupy a place in the Argentine political landscape.
(2) The growth of the Argentine working class Marx and Engels pointed out in the Manifesto of the Communist Party: "Of all the classes that stand face to face with the bourgeoisie today, the proletariat alone is a really revolutionary class." This conclusion profoundly reveals the core position of the working class in the socialist revolution.
For Argentina, the growth of its working class was the result of the interaction of multiple factors, including early economic prosperity, structural social transformation, and immigration policies. At the beginning of the 20th century, the global economy entered a period of export prosperity. With its unique natural resources and policy advantages, Argentina rose rapidly to become a major global economic player. During this period, Argentina possessed fertile land and abundant livestock resources, with extremely high productivity in agriculture and animal husbandry. Simultaneously, open trade policies facilitated the export of Argentine agricultural and livestock products, allowing it to occupy an important position in the international market. This stage of the export-oriented economic model not only enhanced the country’s international competitiveness but also drove the comprehensive development of the domestic economy. The boom in primary product exports led to the development of related industrial chains, especially labor-intensive industries such as processing and manufacturing, the food industry, and infrastructure construction. The rapid expansion of these industries directly increased the demand for labor, attracting a large number of rural residents to migrate to cities in search of work. At the same time, Argentina's relatively superior economic environment and labor demand also attracted a large number of foreign immigrants. Industrial cities became centers of population growth, and the domestic working class expanded rapidly. This emerging class not only provided the necessary human resources for industrial development but also became a major driving force for social change.
As the scale of the urban working class continued to expand, their awareness of their rights and their pursuit of social status grew increasingly strong. Socialism advocates for workers’ rights, social equality, and economic redistribution—concepts that happened to align with the interests of the working class and thus won broad support among labor groups. The political awakening of the working class began here; through participating in labor movements, they actively expressed an urgent need for improved working conditions, higher wage guarantees, and a perfected social security system. In this context, socialist political parties became important platforms for the working class to express their demands due to their dedication to defending working-class interests. These parties took social equality, economic redistribution, and the protection of workers' rights as core concepts, which highly resonated with the social contradictions faced by the working class at that time, laying the foundation for the growth of socialist political forces in Argentina.
II. Current State of Development: From Critiquing Capitalism to Active Participation in Domestic and International Social Movements
In political practice, despite its limited electoral influence, the PCA is actively involved in social movements, dedicated to promoting labor rights, opposing the widening gap between rich and poor, and critiquing neoliberal policies. Meanwhile, within the party, the PCA emphasizes cooperation with domestic and international left-wing forces, seeking to expand its influence through alliances, particularly playing a role in labor movements, environmental protection, and social reform issues. The Communist Party of Argentina constantly adjusts between theory and practice, striving to maintain its political mission and historical value within a complex domestic and international environment.
(1) Theoretical Propositions
1. Advocating for state intervention in the economy and resolutely resisting economic imperialism dominated by developed nations The Communist Party of Argentina consistently maintains a position of economic nationalism, actively defending national sovereignty and resisting the influence of economic imperialism—especially the erosion of the Argentine economic system by European and American multinational corporations and international financial institutions represented by the IMF. Dependency theory generally holds that core nations consolidate their own positions in the global market by utilizing the resources, labor, and markets of peripheral countries, while simultaneously limiting the autonomous development of the latter. In this way, the economic development of peripheral countries remains perpetually dependent on the capital, technology, and markets of the core nations. This dependency leads to problems such as the outflow of resources from peripheral countries, the stagnation of industrial structures, and the widening gap between rich and poor.
Economic imperialism not only makes Argentina economically dependent on external markets but also leaves its international policies—particularly economic and financial policies—constantly subject to the will of others. The most typical example of this was the 2001 Argentine economic crisis. In the 1980s, to solve its serious debt crisis, the Menem government of Argentina accepted economic reform recommendations proposed by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, implementing a series of neoliberal reform policies domestically. These policies included cutting social welfare, reducing public spending, and accelerating privatization. However, these reform measures not only failed to effectively resolve Argentina's debt problems but instead significantly weakened the state's ability to regulate the economy, leaving the nation unable to make policy adjustments in response to the economic situation, eventually leading to the full-scale outbreak of the 2001 economic crisis.
In this context, the PCA calls for stricter control over foreign capital and emphasizes state protection and intervention in key industries to safeguard Argentina's economic sovereignty. At the same time, the PCA advocates for the state to take vigorous measures for structural economic adjustment, reducing dependence on the export of a single resource, and promoting the sustainable development of local manufacturing, technology industries, and agriculture to enhance the independence and risk-resistance of the Argentine economy. Furthermore, in the PCA's political program, state control over the economy is paramount. Only through external intervention and the equitable distribution of resources by a state composed of workers and the proletariat can it be ensured that resources and wealth primarily serve the local populace rather than being seized by foreign capital. Only by strengthening the government’s leading role in resource distribution, infrastructure construction, and key industries can dependence on foreign capital be reduced and the dependent economic form be transformed.
2. Critiquing the capitalist system, arguing that it has led to insufficient political representation for the Argentine proletariat and dependent economic development In the view of the PCA, the capitalist system not only exacerbates the gap between rich and poor and social inequality but also strips the proletariat of genuine representation at the political level. Generally speaking, the capitalist system tends to safeguard the interests of a few oligarchs. By controlling economic resources and political power, these oligarchs form a distinct privileged class, while the proletariat is systematically marginalized within such a system, thereby losing the discourse power they ought to have in policy-making and political participation.
Furthermore, the PCA critiques the dependence of the Argentine capitalist system on transnational capital, arguing that this dependence not only endangers Argentina's economic autonomy but also causes national economic policies to inevitably lean toward the interests of foreign capital. Judging from various past practices, Argentine domestic capitalism has often made concessions under pressure from transnational financial institutions and foreign capital groups, ignoring the economic interests of ordinary people. Transnational capital, by controlling core industries and the financial sector, further weakens national economic sovereignty, making Argentina’s path toward independent development increasingly narrow and its degree of dependency deeper. A typical case is the penetration of the Argentine soybean industry by the American company Monsanto (Monsanto Company). In 1996, to attract foreign capital, the Menem government specifically approved Monsanto's promotion of GMO soybean cultivation in the country. Although this policy significantly boosted Argentina's export earnings in the short term, it brought extremely serious developmental problems to Argentine agriculture. Because Monsanto held the patents for the GMO soybean seeds, farmers had to pay high patent and chemical product fees every year. At the same time, because GMO crops have self-reproduction restrictions, farmers could not save seeds for the following year's planting and were forced to rely year after year on seeds provided by Monsanto. This economic dependency allowed Monsanto to occupy a dominant position in Argentine agriculture; the autonomy of Argentine agricultural development was significantly weakened, making it difficult to escape the control of multinational corporations.
Based on this, the PCA advocates for exploring an alternative development model to achieve social economic justice and political fairness. A socialist economic model is the only effective way to realize the interests of society as a whole; it can not only break the monopolistic resource distribution of capitalism but also realize the interests of the laboring class through collective ownership and state-led economic management. To this end, the PCA advocates building an economic structure centered on collective welfare, ensuring social fairness and justice by state control of important economic sectors, implementing wealth redistribution policies, and strengthening the participation of the working class in the production process.
3. Focusing on defending the interests of workers and students and striving for equal social rights Defending the rights and interests of the working class has always been the core program of the Communist Party of Argentina. As a socialist party, the PCA firmly believes that the working class is the primary force driving social progress; therefore, it advocates that the fruits of national economic development should benefit all workers fairly, rather than being concentrated in the hands of a few capital owners.
The PCA also actively advocates for the development of trade union organizations, believing that unions are an important platform for the working class to express demands and strive for rights. Trade unions provide effective support for workers in wage negotiations and the improvement of working conditions, while also giving the working class a voice in politics. The PCA believes that strong trade unions not only enhance worker solidarity but also play a major role in national policy-making. Through unions, workers can participate in social transformation in a more organized manner. In practice, while strengthening the power of trade unions, the PCA also promotes the participation of the working class in political decision-making, expanding the political influence of the working class to ensure that policy-making truly reflects the interests of the worker groups.
As the most dynamic and high-potential group in society, Argentine students not only represent the backbone of future society but also play a critical role in many social movements. The Communist Party of Argentina (PCA) believes that education is not only the cornerstone of social development but a fundamental human right that every young person should enjoy; consequently, they reject the trend toward the commodification of public education. They advocate that the state must shoulder the responsibility of providing free and universal services to ensure that all young citizens, especially those from impoverished strata, can obtain equal access to high-quality public educational resources. In the PCA’s view, only in this way can society truly achieve social mobility and break the intergenerational cycle of poverty. To guarantee educational equity and university access, the PCA advocates for increased government investment in public education funding—specifically by improving educational infrastructure, teacher salaries, and the quality of instruction—to ensure all students can receive a high-quality education under equal conditions.
(2) Political Practice
1. Actively carrying out organizational building and successfully convening the 28th National Congress
Throughout its development, the Communist Party of Argentina has attached high importance to organizational building and has consolidated the Party's program and strategic direction through the mechanism of National Congresses. In its nearly century-long history, the PCA has successfully held over 20 National Congresses. These meetings have not only provided a vital platform for unifying thinking and clarifying the line within the Party but also laid the foundation for its adaptation to social change and response to challenges. In 1920, after the PCA changed its name and joined the Communist International, its first Congress clearly defined the basic principles of taking Marxism as guidance and promoting the struggle of the working class. In subsequent Congresses, the PCA continuously adjusted its tactics to adapt to changes in the international and domestic situations—such as the Great Depression of the 1930s and the rise of Peronism in the 1940s—pushing the Party organization to integrate more deeply into the working class. In its development over the following decades, the PCA consistently maintained the importance of programmatic construction. For example, at the 15th National Congress, the PCA clearly proposed a path for advancing socialism by integrating it with local realities and strengthened cooperation with trade unions, peasant organizations, and other leftist forces. Several subsequent Congresses further emphasized the integration of theory and practice, clarified the Party's political tasks, and continuously advanced internal organizational democratization to attract greater participation from grassroots members.
From September 20-23, 2024, the PCA organized and convened its 28th National Congress in the capital, Buenos Aires. More than 200 delegates from provinces and cities across Argentina, as well as observers from Communist Party organizations in Brazil, Peru, and several other countries, attended the meeting or sent congratulatory letters.
The 28th National Congress of the PCA elected a new leadership team, in which Jorge Kreyness was elected as the new General Secretary of the PCA, succeeding Victor Kot. At the same time, the 28th Congress clarified the core strategic vision for the PCA's future development: namely, promoting the formation of a united front of the masses. To achieve this goal, the PCA's basic future policy is to proceed from the grassroots and build "people's power" from the bottom up. Specifically, this policy requires that every trade union, university faculty, and neighborhood grassroots organization under the leadership of the PCA must become a subject for promoting the building of people's power. By strengthening people's autonomous organizations, they aim to equip them with the ability to contest political power with systemic forces at the local level. On this basis, the PCA stated it will be committed to defending Argentine national sovereignty in the future, opposing political forces that threaten the stability of the working class and the broad masses, and explicitly stated it will support social movements of students fighting for their own rights. The 28th Congress also clearly articulated its position of opposition to the Milei government, arguing that Milei and the political alliance under his leadership are implementing ultra-liberal and neo-fascist policies that will bring profound threats to Argentina’s national economic sovereignty, democracy, and social solidarity.
2. Fully participating in the domestic political process and deeply integrating into Argentine social movements
As a socialist party, the PCA has worked hard in recent years to advance its socialist propositions by broadly participating in various political activities. It not only formulates clear strategic policies at its National Congresses but also pushes its policy propositions down to the grassroots through organizational structures at all levels, mobilizing broad support among groups such as the working class, youth, and students.
After taking office in December 2023, the Milei government began implementing "shock therapy"—that is, actively promoting extreme free-market reforms, implementing large-scale cuts to public spending, pushing for the privatization of state-owned enterprises, and abruptly canceling Argentina's original basic price subsidies. This led to intensified inflation in Argentina, the continuous devaluation of the local peso, and a vertical surge in the domestic poverty rate, directly threatening the rights and living standards of the ordinary working class. In response, the Communist Party of Argentina clearly expressed its opposition and called on the working class and progressive forces to unite and resist the assault on social equity by extreme capitalist policies. At the same time, the PCA has continuously mobilized the grassroots masses to carry out social movements, strengthening the social consensus against neoliberalism. For example, in the national strike of a million workers that broke out in January 2024, the Communist Party of Argentina actively organized and participated.
Milei’s "shock therapy" also extended into the field of public education. The University of Buenos Aires (UBA), as the largest and most prestigious public institution of higher learning in Argentina, has long served as a window displaying the achievements of Argentine higher education. However, after Milei took office, against the backdrop of domestic inflation and significant currency devaluation, he not only failed to increase the UBA budget but actually implemented a scale of reductions. As a result, the real wages of faculty and staff have been repeatedly lowered, 85% of university teachers live below the poverty line, and even the basic facilities of the schools cannot receive sufficient maintenance. To ensure the normal operation of UBA, the Argentine Congress passed the "University Financing Law" on September 12, 2024, but the Milei government exercised the presidential veto the following day, calling the bill an "irresponsible act passed by Congress to increase public spending." Using this as a fuse, a second large-scale student protest broke out in Argentina on October 12 this year, demanding the government confront the plight of public universities and ensure stable investment in educational resources. During this protest, the Communist Party of Argentina also intervened deeply, expressing its support for the student movement. In addition to organizing and participating in person, shortly after the protest broke out, the PCA published a statement on the homepage of its official website, voicing support for the students' legitimate demands and calling on the youth to unite and struggle to maintain the survival and development of public universities.
3. Focusing on online public opinion and propaganda work, and actively building a base for theoretical research
The online propaganda construction of the Communist Party of Argentina (PCA) has now reached a state of maturity, forming a fully functional and efficiently operating integrated matrix of websites. This system is primarily composed of two core propaganda websites: the first is the official website of the Communist Party of Argentina (PAGINA OFICIAL DEL PCA), which is mainly used for the dissemination of the PCA's programmatic documents and the publication of political statements on important social events; the second is the "Our Proposal" (Nuestra Propuesta) website. The PCA primarily utilizes this site to provide real-time updates on political activities and trends in the international communist movement, and to publish editorials on the current social policies of the Milei government—especially its neoliberal reform policies. Through high-frequency information updates and in-depth policy analysis, this website has gradually become the main front for the PCA to carry out public opinion propaganda, attracting significant attention and discussion.
In addition to these propaganda websites, the PCA has established a specialized theoretical research site, the "Héctor Agosti Center for Marxist Research and Training" (CEFMA). As an important academic support platform within the Party, this research base provides a continuous theoretical impetus for deepening Marxist theory, promoting socialist thought, and advancing Argentine social change. Through this theoretical research base, the Communist Party of Argentina can systematically organize various forms of academic activities, including Marxist theory seminars, policy forums, and ideological workshops, providing a venue for scholars, Party members, and the public both inside and outside the Party to exchange ideas and share experiences.
Relying on this research center, the PCA has established a theoretical academic journal, Marxist Notes (CUADERNOS MARXISTAS). The fields covered by this journal include the basic principles of Marxism, the history of the development and dissemination of Marxism, and new changes in contemporary capitalism. It focuses on the understanding and analysis of practical issues such as "new imperialism" and regularly publishes relevant research results—such as academic papers, policy analyses, and research reports—providing rich content for the PCA’s theoretical exploration and innovation. These research results not only promote the deepening of theory within the Party but also make its website an important window for the dissemination of socialist thought, gradually becoming an important academic resource center for the Argentine leftist intellectual community.
4. Promoting the unification of domestic and foreign leftist organizations and extensively carrying out domestic and international collaboration
The Communist Party of Argentina has always advocated for the unity of various leftist and progressive forces, believing that only through joint action can social change against capitalism be effectively promoted and a fairer, more equal social system be realized. In the struggle to support the housing rights of low-income groups, the PCA has cooperated with the "Federation of Land, Housing and Infrastructure" (FTV), focusing on improving living conditions in shantytowns. To this end, PCA members and federation members have organized large-scale protest marches calling on the government to increase investment in social housing projects. Furthermore, in early 2022, during protests against Argentina's debt agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the Communist Party of Argentina actively participated and united several social movement organizations and student groups in the "Campaign Against Foreign Debt," forming a cross-generational wave of opposition.
In addition to domestic joint actions, the Communist Party of Argentina also places extreme emphasis on establishing international alliances with leftist parties and progressive forces in Latin America and other countries around the world to jointly resist the intervention of external capitalist forces. The PCA is currently a member of the São Paulo Forum, an important Latin American leftist alliance, and actively participates in various political and social activities of the alliance. In recent years, the PCA has strengthened communication and cooperation with other leftist parties through the São Paulo Forum, especially in responding to regional challenges. For example, in responding to U.S. economic sanctions and diplomatic isolation of leftist countries such as Venezuela and Cuba, the PCA and other forum members have actively coordinated positions and spoken out together to condemn external interference and defend the independence and autonomy of sovereign states.
It is worth emphasizing that, as a socialist party with a long history, the Communist Party of Argentina attaches great importance to drawing lessons from the struggles and construction experiences of Communist Parties in other countries—especially in the current complex international environment, where it pays even more attention to learning from successful cases. The valuable experience accumulated by the Communist Party of China (CPC) in the process of socialist construction—especially in economic development, poverty alleviation, and the Party's own building—has become an important object of study for the PCA. In recent years, the PCA has sent delegations to China many times to attend academic conferences and conduct in-depth investigations into how the CPC integrates socialist principles with modernized development to promote rapid economic growth and social stability. China's achievements in the policy of Reform and Opening-up and the battle against poverty have provided practical references for the PCA, making them realize the importance of adapting to their own national conditions. From the PCA’s perspective, China's practice proves that socialist construction can develop in flexible and innovative ways while adhering to the leadership of a proletarian party, rather than being cast in stone.
III. Challenges Faced: From Internal and External Socio-Political Environmental Challenges to Bottlenecks in Internal Organizational Building
Currently, the PCA is facing multiple severe challenges. Domestically, the rise of far-right forces represented by Milei and the suppression of socialist forces by mainstream political factions have led to a decline in the overall recognition of socialist ideology in Argentine society, while also causing the political space for the PCA to further shrink. At the same time, the PCA's internal development has hit a bottleneck: the growth of membership is slow, the training of young leaders is lackluster, and its capacity for organizational expansion and mobilization is limited, constraining the Party's vitality and influence.
(1) Challenges of the overall domestic political environment
1. Far-right forces coming to power and the compression of the PCA's space for activity
In the Argentine presidential election on November 19, 2023, Javier Milei, the candidate of the far-right "Liberty Advances" alliance, defeated his opponent Sergio Massa with 55.95% of the vote, successfully winning the election. As a far-right politician, Milei fully exploited Argentina's current economic predicament during the election, blaming it on the expansionary fiscal policies of previous leftist governments. He claimed such policies led to hyperinflation and high debt, plunging the Argentine economy into an unprecedented recession and crisis. Therefore, Milei's election is not only seen as the voters' questioning of leftist policies but also as an important marker of Argentine politics turning toward the far-right.
Milei’s political philosophy and policy inclinations exhibit a distinct anti-leftist coloration. Milei believes that past leftist governments, through expansive social welfare policies and public spending during their tenures, not only increased the state's fiscal burden but also fostered large social groups dependent on government assistance, thereby obstructing the free development of the market economy. For instance, in September 2024, Milei reposted a video on the social media platform Twitter (X) mocking former leftist government officials as "rats harming the interests of the state" and describing them as the chief culprits behind Argentina's current economic predicament. These aforementioned policy concepts and practices of Milei have caused the Argentine political environment to shift rapidly. The rise of far-right forces has led to the severe marginalization of the once-active leftist forces; the pressure is particularly evident for the Communist Party of Argentina (PCA) as a socialist force. As the Milei government progressively introduces a series of anti-leftist and anti-socialist policies, the PCA’s space for survival is being further compressed, and its political activities face numerous obstacles. These measures undoubtedly constitute a direct threat to the development of the PCA and other leftist organizations, making the possibility of them advancing a socialist agenda or promoting the entry of socialist thought into the mainstream increasingly remote.
Additionally, it is worth noting that the new round of the US presidential election will also bring considerable external pressure to the development of socialist forces in Argentina. Donald Trump maintains a close relationship with Argentine President Milei; the two not only possess a high degree of ideological alignment but also favor economic liberalization reforms in their policy directions. This consistency has led Milei to be frequently dubbed the "Argentine Trump." In this context, the pace at which Milei implements far-right neoliberal reforms is bound to accelerate further, involving larger-scale privatization, cuts to government welfare spending, and the deregulation of financial markets. Support from a Trump administration would not only provide a veneer of policy legitimacy for Milei but could also offer substantive assistance to his reform measures by strengthening US-Argentine bilateral cooperation. This would clear obstacles for Milei to consolidate power domestically, thereby bringing new challenges and repressive influences to the socialist movement within Argentina.
2. The Marginal Status of the PCA Within Domestic Mainstream Leftist Parties
At its inception, the PCA established itself with a distinct independence and its own political propositions. However, in contemporary political practice, its influence and presence are often dependent on other, more powerful leftist parties. Currently, the PCA’s political activities and policy implementations are frequently tied closely to major parties such as the Justicialist Party [12].
Since the democratization of the 1980s, the PCA has established a mode of political participation through peaceful campaigning and other methods characterized by distinct democratic socialist overtones. Recognizing its own insufficient influence, the PCA has frequently chosen to form alliances with larger leftist parties like the Justicialist Party during general elections to secure legislative seats, rather than competing independently. While this dependence provides the PCA with a certain degree of electoral support and political resources, it simultaneously severely limits its political independence. Within the Union for the Homeland (Unión por la Patria) [13]—the alliance to which the PCA currently belongs—the PCA exists only as a minor member. This situation places the party under significant political pressure, frequently forcing it into political compromises.
The PCA’s reliance on leftist party alliances is also reflected in the compromise of political concepts and values. As a party guided by Marxism-Leninism, the PCA has long advocated for profound social reform, economic restructuring, and a fundamental critique of the capitalist system. However, when cooperating with mainstream leftist forces such as the Justicialist Party or the Workers' Party [14], the PCA often needs to make compromises on policy positions. This is frequently manifested in the PCA having to adjust its radical policy propositions to suit the needs of the alliance. Especially regarding economic policy, fiscal policy, and labor rights, the PCA often finds it necessary to adopt a conciliatory stance to seek consensus within the broader political environment.
The ultimate result of these compromises is that the PCA has missed opportunities to develop its own strength and has failed to establish a solid base of support among social groups. Due to a lack of formidable political power and appeal within the party, the PCA can only attach itself to other parties on many important policy issues, unable to truly represent its own political philosophy. From the perspective of current political practice, this development strategy has not brought the PCA its expected results. At present, the PCA has still failed to obtain any seats in the Argentine National Congress (Senate or Chamber of Deputies) or in relevant state-level institutions.
(II) Waning Organizational Scale and Insufficient Reserve Forces
1. Continuous Decline in Party Membership
One of the most direct and severe problems currently facing the PCA is the continuous decline in membership and the shrinking scale of the party organization. In recent years, PCA membership has dropped significantly; according to data from the Argentine National Electoral Portal, the party had only 130,000 members in 2022, and this number continues to decrease annually. This trend not only reflects the increasingly weak foundation within the party but also signifies that the party organization’s capacity for social mobilization and its political influence are undergoing a severe trial.
Behind this phenomenon is the PCA’s failure to effectively keep pace with social changes, particularly its failure to establish a distinct and attractive political identity in the political competition of the New Era. Compared to other mainstream parties in Argentina, the PCA appears relatively conservative and has failed to adapt quickly to shifts in the social and political environment. Its political appeal is markedly insufficient, especially in attracting young voters and emerging social strata, leading to a continuous decline in party vitality. The class struggle and socialist theories long upheld by the PCA appear somewhat outdated in modern Argentine society, making it difficult to resonate with the broad masses.
2. Lack of a Sound Mechanism for Cultivating Reserves
In addition to the slow growth in membership, the PCA’s mechanisms for cultivating young leaders and successors are also imperfect. The current leadership of the PCA is relatively fixed; there is a lack of an effective leadership turnover mechanism within the party, and the cultivation of young cadres has not received sufficient attention. The phenomenon of aging within the party is prominent; both the current General Secretary, Victor Kot, and his predecessor were over seventy years old upon taking office. This situation not only affects the vitality of the party leadership but also exacerbates the dearth of successor forces, leaving the PCA lacking sufficient youthful strength when facing future political transformations.
More seriously, the PCA has failed to establish a systematic mechanism for cadre selection and training. Consequently, the number of young members within the PCA is small, their political participation is low, and many young people lack opportunities to enter the party leadership or receive necessary tempering through practice. This state of affairs prevents the PCA’s cadre corps from effectively responding to diverse social needs and the challenges of the modern political environment.
Furthermore, peripheral PCA organizations such as the Communist Youth Federation (FJC) [15] have failed to form effective cultivation mechanisms for training and mobilizing young talent, leading to a serious shortage of young forces within the party. Therefore, the challenge facing the PCA is not merely the aging of the party leadership, but more so the overall lagging development of party cadres and a lack of sufficient political vitality and innovative capacity.
(III) Declining Social Recognition of Leftist Ideology in Contemporary Argentina
For a long time, Argentine politics was dominated by Peronism and leftist forces, forming a deep leftist social foundation. Milei’s electoral victory not only broke this pattern but also signaled the reshaping of the right wing and a profound shift in the political psyche of the Argentine people.
Since the rise of Peronism in the 1940s, Argentina’s leftist forces have been rooted in broad grassroots support. Peronism is not only a political movement but also a symbol of social sentiment and national identity. The "social justice, equality, and the rights of the working people" advocated by Peronism are deeply embedded in the Argentine social structure, becoming a massive political resource for attracting voters. Although the socialist ideology advocated by the PCA is fundamentally different from Peronism, the two still share many similarities in advocating for changing the status quo of social inequality and promoting the well-being of the general public. Thus, socialism once held a certain market among the Argentine people.
In sharp contrast to the left, right-wing forces were long unpopular in Argentine society. This situation stems in part from Argentina’s history of military government, particularly the period of military dictatorship from the 1970s to the 1980s [16]. During this era, the right-wing regime implemented high-pressure policies; widespread political persecution and social control left the populace with indelible psychological trauma. In this context, the "Right" became synonymous with "military dictatorship" and "repression." Deep-seated fear and rejection of the right wing took root among the people, and Argentine society generally held a higher level of tolerance and trust toward the left.
The lack of governing capacity among right-wing forces further deepened this mistrust. For example, during the administration of the center-right Radical Civic Union [17] in the early 21st century, President Fernando de la Rúa’s economic policy and management failures led to a severe financial crisis. Argentina fell into a sustained debt crisis, unemployment soared, the banking system nearly collapsed, and the lives of the people were hit hard. This event caused the Argentine public to become even more skeptical of the right’s ability to govern, associating the right wing with negative images such as economic chaos and government incompetence. Because of this, most right-wing parties in Argentina over the past few decades avoided explicitly labeling themselves as such, instead calling themselves "democrats" or "reformists" in an attempt to downplay their right-wing attributes to cater to the voters' psychology.
The phenomenon of Milei running high-profile as a "far-right candidate" and ultimately winning the election clearly indicates that the Argentine people’s psychological prejudice against right-wing parties has weakened significantly, while disappointment with leftist parties has increased substantially. Against the backdrop of a continuously sluggish Argentine economy, voters’ political attitudes have become increasingly pragmatic. They no longer equate the right wing with military dictatorship or economic failure; instead, they see the potential of the right as a force for change. They believe that compared to continuing to endure the various hardships brought about by the Justicialist Party’s failed economic reforms, trying a new political direction might bring a turning point for the Argentine economy.
IV. Outlook on Trends: Internal and External Socio-Political Changes Will Provide New Opportunities for the PCA
Although the PCA currently faces many development bottlenecks, if it can grasp the opportunity provided by the widespread intensification of social contradictions caused by the Milei government’s reforms, flexibly adjust its development strategy, and actively respond to the people’s demands, it may still win new room for development in the future.
(I) Opportunities Amidst Domestic Turmoil in Argentina
The neoliberal reforms currently being implemented by the Milei government have indeed eased inflationary pressures in Argentina to a certain extent, but they have failed to benefit ordinary people in the short term. Instead, fiscal austerity has led to severe cuts in public services, causing the general cost of living for the populace to skyrocket. A typical example is the rise in electricity prices: in February 2024, the two Argentine power companies, Edenor and Edesur, announced the cancellation of electricity price subsidies, causing electricity rates for N2 users (middle-income tier) in Buenos Aires Province to soar from 3,500 pesos per 150 kWh to 10,500 pesos—a nearly threefold increase.
Furthermore, the general rise in the cost of living has driven a substantial increase in the poverty rate. Based on the "Basic Food Basket" (CBA) price calculations, Argentina’s poverty rate reached 52.9% in the first half of 2024, a significant increase of 11.2 percentage points from 41.7% in the second half of 2023. A large number of the former middle class have fallen into poverty, unemployment has climbed, and the purchasing power of wages continues to decline, making the daily expenses of ordinary families increasingly tight. Public service resources in education, healthcare, and housing have been significantly reduced due to fiscal austerity, leaving poor families facing immense difficulties in basic security for life and development. This economic crisis and policy reform have not only impacted the low-income strata but have also placed survival pressure on the middle class. More and more people have begun to question Milei’s reform measures and the capitalist system behind them. The polling firm CB Consultora also indicated that Milei’s support rate in September 2024 fell by 4.2% from August, down to 46.4%.
Against the backdrop of the current intensifying social crisis, Argentina’s socialist forces are set to encounter unprecedented opportunities for development. For a long time, socialist organizations such as the Communist Party of Argentina (CPA) have held "social equality," "economic fairness," and "collective welfare" as their core values, opposing capitalism and monopoly economies while advocating for equitable distribution and rational state management of resources. Currently, the general populace is disillusioned with economic reforms centered on ultra-liberalism due to the hardships of daily life; consequently, the propositions of socialist forces are gaining increasing recognition among them. If the CPA can effectively capitalize on the current situation by proposing more feasible policies to win public support, they may be able to occupy a more advantageous position in future political struggles, attracting support from both the middle class and the impoverished strata, thereby providing strong sustenance for subsequent development.
2. Support from the Working Class
Since the country's industrialization, the Argentine working class has been the backbone of economic development, possessing mature trade union organizations and extensive experience in struggle. Within the national economic structure, the working class is not only the main force of production but also plays an indispensable role in striving for social equality and labor rights.
As previously mentioned, the CPA has consistently been a steadfast advocate for the concepts of "social equality" and "economic fairness," and its fundamental policy positions are naturally aligned with the demands of the Argentine working class. Unlike the neoliberal and market-oriented policies generally adopted by current mainstream political parties, the CPA explicitly opposes the capitalist economic model, firmly believing that state intervention is the necessary path [18] to guaranteeing the interests of the working class and upholding labor rights. This consistency in policy philosophy has created the prerequisites for the CPA to accumulate working-class support.
Since Javier Milei took office, the rights and interests of the Argentine working class have faced unprecedented challenges due to his implementation of radical marketization and neoliberal reform policies. Reduced wages, weakened job security, and the retrenchment of social welfare have provoked strong resistance from the working class, with trade unions and labor organizations launching wave after wave of protest. In this context, the connection between the CPA and the working class continues to deepen, providing an opportunity to further expand its political influence. Through synergistic cooperation with trade unions and grassroots labor organizations, the CPA can more directly communicate its political propositions to the broad masses of workers, transforming working-class anger and dissatisfaction into political support and providing a clear direction of struggle for the working class. Leveraging this support, the CPA expects to gain greater influence and mobilizing power during protest activities, laying a solid mass foundation for advancing the socialist agenda and consolidating its core support base.
3. The Impact of the Regional Left-wing Resurgence
In recent years, a wave of resurgence of left-wing regimes has emerged across several Latin American countries. Left-wing forces in regional powers including Chile, Colombia, and Mexico have achieved electoral success, leading to significant changes in the Latin American political ecosystem. With the relative decline of right-wing political forces and the return of left-wing parties to power in recent years, the "leftward shift and rightward retreat" [19] has begun to become the mainstream of the Latin American political ecosystem. According to statistics from The New York Times, since 2018, six of the seven largest countries in the region have elected left-wing leaders, greatly strengthening regional left-wing forces.
Specifically, in July 2021, after two rounds of voting, Pedro Castillo, the candidate of the left-wing Free Peru party (Peru Libre), defeated Keiko Fujimori of the Popular Force (Fuerza Popular) and was successfully elected President of Peru. On December 19 of the same year, Gabriel Boric, the candidate for the Chilean left-wing coalition "Approve Dignity" (Apruebo Dignity), defeated his opponent José Antonio Kast of the right-wing "Christian Social Front" (Frente Social Cristiano) with 55.86% of the vote to become the President of Chile; notably, Boric won with the highest number of votes in the history of Chilean presidential elections.
In 2022, the left in Colombia and Brazil also staged powerful returns in their general elections. On May 29, 2022, Colombia held a presidential election where Gustavo Petro, candidate for the left-wing electoral alliance "Historic Pact for Colombia" (Pacto Histórico por Colombia), defeated independent candidate Rodolfo Hernández in the second round to become the first left-wing president in Colombian history. On October 30, in the second round of the Brazilian general election, the left-wing former president Lula defeated the far-right incumbent President Bolsonaro to be successfully elected President of Brazil; in January 2023, Lula was sworn in, marking the formal return of Brazilian left-wing forces. Furthermore, left-wing leaders in Honduras, Nicaragua, Saint Lucia, the Bahamas, and Barbados have also taken office during this new wave of "leftward shift and rightward retreat." In the twelve general elections held across twelve Latin American countries in 2021 and 2022, left-wing candidates won ten.
This trend will undoubtedly have a positive impact on the future development of the Communist Party of Argentina. Cooperation and exchanges between left-wing regimes in the Latin American region will help the CPA build an extensive international support network, further strengthening the external support for its development and helping to boost confidence in the CPA's future growth.
Conclusion
As a socialist party with a long history in Latin America, the Communist Party of Argentina has always persisted in playing a unique role among domestic and international left-wing forces. Although the CPA’s influence is currently limited under the dual pressure of the far-right wave and internal structural challenges, it still possesses potential in promoting social justice and the unification of regional progressive forces. Facing the new situation of intensifying social contradictions in Argentina and the resurgence of the Latin American left, the Communist Party of Argentina will continue to explore new paths for its own development. In the process of defending the rights of laborers, promoting equitable distribution, and advancing anti-capitalist transformation, the CPA strives to consolidate its position within Argentina and the broader Latin American socialist camp, gradually exploring a socialist model that truly fits the realities of its own country and the region.