Election of a Workers’ Left Front candidate in Neuquén welcomed by workers and left activists all over the country

Christian Castillo, national leader of the Partido de los Trabajadores Socialistas (“Socialist Workers’ Party, PTS), who shares the presidential ticket of the Workers’ Left Front with Jorge Altamira (PO, “Workers’ Party”), greeted the political achievement in Neuquén where the Front won a provincial representative.

“The result in Neuquén, where our provincial representatives’ ticket got more than 10,400 votes, is a victory on three counts. First, we have obtained a workers’ seat which, as has been explained during the campaign by my PTS comrade Raúl Godoy and comrade Alejandro López, establishes the principle that the representatives will earn the same wage that they earn in the factory. They will donate the rest to workers’ struggles and the seat will be occupied by every organisation in the Workers’ Left Front in turn. I witnessed the second victory when I took part in the closing rally in Neuquén, the result of a massive political campaign driven by the Front which encouraged the militancy of hundreds of workers and youth. At the rally you could sense the support received by the ceramic workers during ten years of hard struggle. Thirdly, what we have achieved in the Neuquén political struggle is the exposing of the reactionary politics of the government of Cristina Fernandez, which aims to prevent left-wing organisations from standing in elections. It is a victory achieved on the basis of keeping workers’ political independence from the government, from all bosses’ parties, from the centre-left, and from the state, in contrast with other organisations. This is a major step forward for the Workers’ Left Front and it encourages workers and left activists who fight bosses, government and union bureaucracy every day.”

PTS Press Secretary, Argentina 13 June 2011, first published here