Andalusia: Anticapitalists at a crossroads

The latest defeat of the PSOE does not directly benefit the right, which also wins. Adelante Andalucía made a great choice that places Anticapitalistas at a crossroads. A revolutionary and socialist alternative is needed in Andalusia and the Spanish State.

By Gérard Florenson and Flor Salgueiro

PSOE: autonomous defeat, national coup

The defeat of the PSOE in an autonomous community that had been its stronghold for a long time was foreseeable, and the fact that its candidate was María Jesús Montero, former minister and one of the national leaders of the party, turns this setback into a new blow for Sánchez. The loss is limited, -1,4% and two seats, but it must be considered in light of the ambitions of the PSOE and is triggering an internal crisis, not only in Andalusia.

The PP and Vox won

But even before the elections, only one question interested the analysts: Would Juan Manuel Moreno Bonilla keep, presented as the “good guy” of the Popular Party -compared to Isabel Díaz Ayuso-, his absolute majority or he would have to form a coalition with VOX? This important question, which of course becomes more relevant given the composition of Parliament, overshadows a rigorous analysis of the results. But the facts are clear: The combined total of the right and the extreme right did not increase compared to 2022, the PP lost 5 seats and VOX, penalized by the far-right candidacy of Se Acabó La Fiesta (OINTMENT), only one won, although it took away key votes from VOX.

Great success for Adelante Andalucía

Nevertheless, the success of Adelante Andalucía, much larger than expected, is the significant event, both for the result itself and for its superiority over Por Andalucía, the reformist left coalition made up of SUMAR and Podemos, who not only benefited from the decline of the PSOE, but also lost votes and percentage points.

Beyond the ambiguities of the discourse and practices of the Anticapitalists¹, the driving force of Adelante Andalucía, your success is very good news, which shows that the rejection of the policies of the PSOE and its government allies can find a way out on the left. This becomes even more important in Andalusia, land of workers' struggles, with strong mobilizations in industry and agriculture.

Anticapitalists at a crossroads

We have titled this article “Anticapitalists at a crossroads” because nothing has been decided yet., although we know that "centrist" organizations that combine revolutionary Marxist references with a "possibilist" practice oriented towards reformism tend to lean towards the latter. Nevertheless, The majority of those who voted for Adelante Andalucía – especially the young – expect something more than opportunism justified by the “lesser evil.”; on the contrary, they would have opted for the government's "partners", the reformist coalition For Andalusia. The electoral success of Adelante Andalucía will be ephemeral if this aspiration is betrayed.

We understand those who fear the consequences for freedom of a PP-VOX alliance, but we warn you: evil minorism does not protect us from the worst, Well, all the policies of the so-called left, at the service of capitalism, They favor the advance of the right and the extreme right, abandoning the working classes to their fate.

Paradoxically, The electoral results have given a break to the Anticapitalists: The defeat of the PSOE prevents them from immediately betraying their principles by supporting Montero's presidential candidacy (support without participation, like in Portugal), and it is unlikely that the "lesser evil" extends to making things easier for Moreno Bonilla.

Reflect and take advantage of new opportunities

Regrettably, IZAR colleagues, they had a very low vote. This does not mean that revolutionary positions are condemned to marginality, but rather that many of those who share them choose to vote for the list that could be elected.. In this regard, We claim to have called to vote for them for their radical leftist program., of breaking with the regime and the system. Notwithstanding this, The electoral balance will surely be cause for reflection and we hope that it will also lead to concrete action to promote steps forward with the regrouping of the revolutionaries at the regional level., state and international.

The open situation in Andalusia opens a new opportunity for revolutionary Marxists who, far from any sectarian retreat, We must call for Anticapitalists to assume the responsibilities of the moment. In fact, both the social situation, marked by important struggles and the presence of combative unions (like the SAT in agriculture), as the electoral success of Adelante Andalucía offer an opportunity to lay the foundations for a revolutionary and socialist political alternative, supported by a parliamentary group dedicated to promoting workers' and popular struggles and self-organization without adapting to the institutionality of capitalism. It's something that Podemos already did, Syriza and other reformist parties that first raised expectations of change in broad sectors and then completely disappointed them.

A confluence like the one we propose should boost anti-imperialist struggles, both of the old imperialisms of the EU and the US. with NATO,  like the new ones from China and Russia, the abolition of all racist and repressive laws, the mobilization against reactionary judges, all policies functional to the interests of businessmen and transcend a purely theoretical Andalusianism.

To take up a call for the broadest unity of action against austerity for war in the perspective of workers governing an Andalusian Socialist Republic within a Free Federation of Socialist Republics of the Peninsula ².

We make this call for reflection Anticapitalists, Adelante Andalusia, to the bases with which we collaborate in the struggles, to management and elected officials. Without sectarianism, in a spirit of brotherhood, but also without hesitating to criticize deficiencies and denounce setbacks.

1.- Anticapitalistas is the Spanish section of the Unified Secretariat (IV International) Y, contrary to the positions of the radical left, praises Portugal's Left Bloc, the support of the Socialist Party, and approves the drift of the NPA-A in France.

2.- The denunciation of Catalanism and Sánchez, hostage of the same, He occupied a large part of the electoral campaign of the PP and VOX. Nevertheless, anticapitalist, which at the time of the Catalan referendum had barely distanced itself from Podemos, must definitively break with institutional logics such as progressive autonomy or negotiated referendums.