CURRENT INTELLIGENCE ANALYSIS SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83-01042R000600100025-9
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: C
• Document Page Count: 4
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2010
• Sequence Number: 25
• Publication Date: March 3, 1965
• Content Type: REPORT

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FEC E PAL BUREAU OF IU;YESTIGATION UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE
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SOCIALIST WORKERS PARTY
National Plenum
In the interval. between its national conventions, which are held every
other year, the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) usually holds one or two national
plenums. Only full and alternate members of the SWP National Committee and
special, invited guests are eligible to attend a plenum--the highest authority
in the SWP between national conventions. At a plenum held recently, the SWP
heard a report on the international Trotskyite movement, expelled nine members,
reviewed its 1964 presidential campaign, made plans for future activities, and
elected national officers. The SWP, which has been designated as subversive
pursuant to Executive Order 10450, was formed in 1938 and is a militantly
revolutionary party based upon the theories of Marx, Engels, and Lenin as
interpreted by the late Leon Trotsky.
Foreign "Observers"
SWP member Joseph Hansen reported to the plenum on international
developments. Hansen and his wife, Reba. have been on foreign assignment
for the SWP as "observers" of developments in the Fourth International (FI),
the Trotskyite counterpart of the. defunct Communist International, or Comintern.
The FI had split in 1953 when James Cannon, one of the founders of the SWP,
helped to form the International'Committee in opposition to the policies of
We hel Pab lo (M. VR 'sap i ) of France, then leader of the International Secretariat
of the FI. Although the-SWP had friendly relations with the International
Committee for ten years, it cooperated, through Hansen, during 1963 with
elements of the International Secretariat in an effort to reunify the FI by forming
a United Secretariat, despite vigorous objections by the Socialist Labor League
(SLL), British Trotskyite organization.
Several Problems
Hansen reported that the United Secretariat of the FI is confronted
with several problems, According to-Hansen, the United Secretariat is
encountering difficulties in its 'efforts to: (1) combine all forces in order to
build a new team; (2) learn to work together; (3) bring in sections, such as those
in Latin America, which have been slow in responding to reunification; (4) react,
agreement on problems pertaining to world events; (5) make it possible for all
sections to participate in reunification; and (6) create an international publicatio
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which will block hostile tendencies from establishing competitive propaganda
organs. During the plenum, SWP National Secretary Farrell Dobbs announced
that the foreign assignment of-Joseph and Reba ans-n will terminate during
the latter part of 1965.
Funds for Bolivian Trotskyites
Concerning Trotskyite sections in Latin America, the SWP pledged
in January to send a minimum of $1, 000 in the form of individual contributions
to the Trotskyite Party in Bolivia, which had requested financial assistance
from all Trotskyite parties in the Western Hemisphere in order to take advan-
tage of a "rising revolutionary situation. " In this regard, SWP National
Committeeman Asher Harer. aimed the Trotskyites in Bolivia had taken a
very active part in the overthrow of the government of President Victor Paz
Estenssoro in November, 1964, by a military junta. He added that the Trotskyites
suffered a major share of the casualties during the military action surrounding
he overthrow, but had gained respect, and now have a tremendous opportunity
in Bolivia.
Another SWP Split
During its stormy history, the SWP has expelled several minority
factions which went on to form rival Trotskyite organizations. In July, 1964,
nine SWP members, led by former SWP National Committeeman Tim Wohlforth,
were suspended from SWP membership. The plenum adopted a motion to expel
the nine members of the "Wohlforth tendency. f' Despite these expulsions,
total. SWP membership remains at a little over 500, a figure that has been
relatively constant for over ten years. The Wohlforth group, now known as the
American Committee for the Fourth International, cooperates with the
British SLL and the International Committee of the FI. Like the SWP, the
Wohlforth group hopes to create spheres of influence in the Negro community
and among other minority groups in the United States.
Drop in Voter Support
In a political report to the plenum, Farrell Dobbs admitted that the
SWP lost some support in the 1964 presidential election, but claimed it would
realize gains from the contacts its candidates made in the Negro community
and on nollege__campuses during the campaign. In 1964, the SWP selected
f" Clifton DeBerrhd Edward Shaw as candidates for President and Vice
President-e#the-United States. Shaw is the SWP National Organizational
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Secretary and DeBerry, a Negro and albino, is Dobbs' son-in-law. The
candidates' names appeared on the ballot in eleven states, and the SWP boasted
that it was the first "political party" to nominate a Negro for President. "The
Militant, " weekly SWP newspaper with a press run of 8, 825 copies, 'claimed
in December that DeBerry received 33, 327 votes. In contrast, the 1960 SWP
presidential candidate received 40, 174 votes.
Convention Dates Set
During the plenum, Edward Shaw announced that the SWP National
Office requires $4, 500 every month to maintain its activities- The plenum
selected September 3 through September 6, 1965, as the dates for the next
SWP national convention. The preconvention discussion of issues is scheduled
to begin on June 1. Key issues to be discussed are economic conditions and
the status of Negroes in the United States. The plenum did not create any
surprises when it selected-the-following SWP national officers~James Cannon,
National Chair mafi Farrell Dobbs, rational Secretary; and Edward Shaw,
National Organizatiore a ry.
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