Italian Marxist-Leninist Party
Encyclopedia
The Italian Marxist–Leninist Party (PMLI) (Partito Marxista-Leninista Italiano) is a minor Marxist
Marxism
Marxism is an economic and sociopolitical worldview and method of socioeconomic inquiry that centers upon a materialist interpretation of history, a dialectical view of social change, and an analysis and critique of the development of capitalism. Marxism was pioneered in the early to mid 19th...

 political party in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. It was founded in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

 in 1977. The leading core of PMLI began their political activity as they joined the Communist Party of Italy (Marxist-Leninist) (PCd'I(ml)) in 1967. The group broke away from PCd'I(ml) in 1969 in 1969, and formed the Italian Bolshevik Communist Organization Marxist-Leninist (OCBIml, Organizzazione Comunista Bolscevica Italiana marxista-leninista). In 1977 OCBIml was transformed into PMLI.

The PMLI is opposed to the bourgeois democracy and during the political elections it carries out an abstentionistic
Abstentionism
Abstentionism is standing for election to a deliberative assembly while refusing to take up any seats won or otherwise participate in the assembly's business. Abstentionism differs from an election boycott in that abstentionists participate in the election itself...

 propaganda.

The PMLI is a communist party, loyal to the teachings of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...

, Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels
Friedrich Engels was a German industrialist, social scientist, author, political theorist, philosopher, and father of Marxist theory, alongside Karl Marx. In 1845 he published The Condition of the Working Class in England, based on personal observations and research...

, Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

 and Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

, named the five teachers. This movement strives for a proletarian revolution and the establishment of a united, red and socialist Italy. The PMLI believes that Maoism
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...

 is the highest stage of the workers' movement.

Soviet leader Joseph Stalin is held in high regard within the PMLI due to his construction of the first Socialist country, the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....

, and to his encouragement of the creation of the other Socialist countries of Eastern Europe. Consequently, the PMLI refuses Trotskyism
Trotskyism
Trotskyism is the theory of Marxism as advocated by Leon Trotsky. Trotsky considered himself an orthodox Marxist and Bolshevik-Leninist, arguing for the establishment of a vanguard party of the working-class...

, believing it to be an extremist and anti-Communist diversion from Marxism-Leninism
Marxism-Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology, officially based upon the theories of Marxism and Vladimir Lenin, that promotes the development and creation of a international communist society through the leadership of a vanguard party over a revolutionary socialist state that represents a dictatorship...

.

The PMLI views the 1936 Soviet Constitution as example of the existence of the socialism
Socialism
Socialism is an economic system characterized by social ownership of the means of production and cooperative management of the economy; or a political philosophy advocating such a system. "Social ownership" may refer to any one of, or a combination of, the following: cooperative enterprises,...

 in the Soviet Union.

The PMLI has an official newspaper, Il Bolscevico ('The Bolshevik'). The current General Secretary of PMLI is Giovanni Scuderi
Giovanni Scuderi
Giovanni Scuderi is an Italian politician, General Secretary of the Italian Marxist-Leninist Party, established by him and other comrades in 10 April 1977 in Florence.-Biography:Scuderi has always had a strong Maoist political commitment...

. The headquarters of the PMLI are located in Florence
Florence
Florence is the capital city of the Italian region of Tuscany and of the province of Florence. It is the most populous city in Tuscany, with approximately 370,000 inhabitants, expanding to over 1.5 million in the metropolitan area....

.

The party is not represented in the Italian Parliament, the European Parliament
European Parliament
The European Parliament is the directly elected parliamentary institution of the European Union . Together with the Council of the European Union and the Commission, it exercises the legislative function of the EU and it has been described as one of the most powerful legislatures in the world...

, nor in any regional or provincial assemblies.

Birth and first battles of Il Bolscevico

The first founders of PMLI, that the Party reminds as the four pioneers, began their Marxist-Leninist militancy in 1967, when they joined the PCd'I(ml). They were Giovanni Scuderi
Giovanni Scuderi
Giovanni Scuderi is an Italian politician, General Secretary of the Italian Marxist-Leninist Party, established by him and other comrades in 10 April 1977 in Florence.-Biography:Scuderi has always had a strong Maoist political commitment...

, Mino Pasca, Nerina "Lucia" Paoletti and Patrizia Pierattini. Afterwards, in 1969, one of the densest years of the Cultural Revolution
Cultural Revolution
The Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution, commonly known as the Cultural Revolution , was a socio-political movement that took place in the People's Republic of China from 1966 through 1976...

 in China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

, those four pioneers and other followers denounced CPI(ML) as revisionist party, judged the left cover of Italian Communist Party
Italian Communist Party
The Italian Communist Party was a communist political party in Italy.The PCI was founded as Communist Party of Italy on 21 January 1921 in Livorno, by seceding from the Italian Socialist Party . Amadeo Bordiga and Antonio Gramsci led the split. Outlawed during the Fascist regime, the party played...

 (PCI).

In 14 December 1969, then, the four pioneers and the Provincial Committee of Florence left PCd'I(ml) and, along with other Marxist-Leninist organizations, established the OCBIml, and published, the next day, the first number of the official newspaper Il Bolscevico. In this number, dense of quotes of Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...

, Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...

, Joseph Stalin
Joseph Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin was the Premier of the Soviet Union from 6 May 1941 to 5 March 1953. He was among the Bolshevik revolutionaries who brought about the October Revolution and had held the position of first General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union's Central Committee...

 and Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

, the Organization wrote:
The work of OCBIml so was mainly the one to accumulate the forces to create a revolutionary party. In 1970 the Organization was officially recognized by the Communist Party of China
Communist Party of China
The Communist Party of China , also known as the Chinese Communist Party , is the founding and ruling political party of the People's Republic of China...

 and the Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...

 Embassy invited the leaders of the Organization to the official holidays of the People's Republic of China
People's Republic of China
China , officially the People's Republic of China , is the most populous country in the world, with over 1.3 billion citizens. Located in East Asia, the country covers approximately 9.6 million square kilometres...

, while the Organization sent some messages to Communist Party of China, regarding its 10th National Congress and condolences when Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai
Zhou Enlai was the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, serving from October 1949 until his death in January 1976...

 and Zhu De
Zhu De
Zhu De was a Chinese militarist, politician, revolutionary, and one of the pioneers of the Chinese Communist Party. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in 1955 Zhu became one of the Ten Marshals of the People's Liberation Army, of which he is regarded as the founder.-Early...

 died. OCBIml had a wreath near the corpse of Mao
Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong, also transliterated as Mao Tse-tung , and commonly referred to as Chairman Mao , was a Chinese Communist revolutionary, guerrilla warfare strategist, Marxist political philosopher, and leader of the Chinese Revolution...

 in 18 September 1976, when the funerals finished.

To achieve this historical goal, OCBIml immediately launched itself in the student and workers revolts of then, carrying out an abstentionist propaganda and denouncing those who they believe false Communists, as PCI. Those were difficult years for the Organization, mainly for the lack of funds. Giovanni Scuderi
Giovanni Scuderi
Giovanni Scuderi is an Italian politician, General Secretary of the Italian Marxist-Leninist Party, established by him and other comrades in 10 April 1977 in Florence.-Biography:Scuderi has always had a strong Maoist political commitment...

, talking about the history of the Party, said:
Finally, after having gathered dozen of militants of Tuscany
Tuscany
Tuscany is a region in Italy. It has an area of about 23,000 square kilometres and a population of about 3.75 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence ....

, Lombardy
Lombardy
Lombardy is one of the 20 regions of Italy. The capital is Milan. One-sixth of Italy's population lives in Lombardy and about one fifth of Italy's GDP is produced in this region, making it the most populous and richest region in the country and one of the richest in the whole of Europe...

, Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...

 and Calabria
Calabria
Calabria , in antiquity known as Bruttium, is a region in southern Italy, south of Naples, located at the "toe" of the Italian Peninsula. The capital city of Calabria is Catanzaro....

, the Organization established the Italian Marxist–Leninist Party.

The PMLI is born

From 9 April to 11 April 1977, was held in Florence the Founding Congress of the PMLI. During this Congress, were adopted the Constitution and the Program, the symbol (black hammer and sickle and Mao's head) and the Party anthems. Giovanni Scuderi
Giovanni Scuderi
Giovanni Scuderi is an Italian politician, General Secretary of the Italian Marxist-Leninist Party, established by him and other comrades in 10 April 1977 in Florence.-Biography:Scuderi has always had a strong Maoist political commitment...

 was unanimously acclaimed General Secretary.

For the PMLI, this date ideally represents the beginning of a "new phase" for the Italian working class. The Italian Marxist-Leninists argue that the first phase (1882-1921) was dominated by reformism
Reformism
Reformism is the belief that gradual democratic changes in a society can ultimately change a society's fundamental economic relations and political structures...

 of the Italian Socialist Party
Italian Socialist Party
The Italian Socialist Party was a socialist and later social-democratic political party in Italy founded in Genoa in 1892.Once the dominant leftist party in Italy, it was eclipsed in status by the Italian Communist Party following World War II...

; the second phase was dominated by revisionism
Revisionism (Marxism)
Within the Marxist movement, the word revisionism is used to refer to various ideas, principles and theories that are based on a significant revision of fundamental Marxist premises. The term is most often used by those Marxists who believe that such revisions are unwarranted and represent a...

 of the Italian Communist Party and today is pursued by its heirs, the Party of Communist Refoundation and the Party of Italian Communists
Party of Italian Communists
The Party of Italian Communists is a communist political party in Italy. Its long-time leader is Oliviero Diliberto.-Foundation and early years:...

.

Political and organizational Long March

Since its establishment, the PMLI began a complex political work. It wanted to gain more and more workers and students and to pursue its abstaining electoral campaign. Through this work, new Party centres were created and the PMLI is today present in almost every region of Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

. Particularly, it is rooted in the South.

The PMLI had five Congresses in 1977, 1982, 1985, 1998 and 2008.

Many cells were created, among them the "J. Stalin" (Forlì
Forlì
Forlì is a comune and city in Emilia-Romagna, Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. The city is situated along the Via Emilia, to the right of the Montone river, and is an important agricultural centre...

), "Red Vesuvio" (Naples
Naples
Naples is a city in Southern Italy, situated on the country's west coast by the Gulf of Naples. Lying between two notable volcanic regions, Mount Vesuvius and the Phlegraean Fields, it is the capital of the region of Campania and of the province of Naples...

), "Mao Zedong" (Milan
Milan
Milan is the second-largest city in Italy and the capital city of the region of Lombardy and of the province of Milan. The city proper has a population of about 1.3 million, while its urban area, roughly coinciding with its administrative province and the bordering Province of Monza and Brianza ,...

) and "Mao" (Enna
Enna
Enna is a city and comune located roughly at the center of Sicily, southern Italy, in the province of Enna, towering above the surrounding countryside...

) have headquarters. The central Party headquarters are in Florence.

Ideology

The PMLI "has as theoretical basis Marxism-Leninism-Mao Zedong Thought which presides its ideological, political, organizational and practical work".

Foreign contacts

The PMLI had close contacts with the Chinese Communist Party until 1981, when it denounced the restoration of capitalism under Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping
Deng Xiaoping was a Chinese politician, statesman, and diplomat. As leader of the Communist Party of China, Deng was a reformer who led China towards a market economy...

 and broke the relationship. It tried to have relations with the Party of Labour of Albania, but attacked it after Enver Hoxha
Enver Hoxha
Enver Halil Hoxha was a Marxist–Leninist revolutionary andthe leader of Albania from the end of World War II until his death in 1985, as the First Secretary of the Party of Labour of Albania...

 rejected Maoism
Maoism
Maoism, also known as the Mao Zedong Thought , is claimed by Maoists as an anti-Revisionist form of Marxist communist theory, derived from the teachings of the Chinese political leader Mao Zedong . Developed during the 1950s and 1960s, it was widely applied as the political and military guiding...

.

After 1975, the PMLI had a close relationship with the Communist Party of Kampuchea
Communist Party of Kampuchea
The Communist Party of Kampuchea, also known as Khmer Communist Party , was a communist party in Cambodia. Its followers were generally known as Khmer Rouge .-Foundation of the party; first divisions:...

, even after the invasion of Cambodia
Cambodian-Vietnamese War
The Cambodian–Vietnamese War was an armed conflict between the Socialist Republic of Vietnam and Democratic Kampuchea. The war began with isolated clashes along the land and maritime boundaries of Vietnam and Kampuchea between 1975 and 1977, occasionally involving division-sized military formations...

 by Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. A PMLI leader visited a CPK-controlled zone of Cambodia
Cambodia
Cambodia , officially known as the Kingdom of Cambodia, is a country located in the southern portion of the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia...

 in 1987. After Pol Pot
Pol Pot
Saloth Sar , better known as Pol Pot, , was a Cambodian Maoist revolutionary who led the Khmer Rouge from 1963 until his death in 1998. From 1976 to 1979, he served as the Prime Minister of Democratic Kampuchea....

's arrest in 1997, the PMLI denounced the Khmer Rouge
Khmer Rouge
The Khmer Rouge literally translated as Red Cambodians was the name given to the followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, who were the ruling party in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, led by Pol Pot, Nuon Chea, Ieng Sary, Son Sen and Khieu Samphan...

s' betrayal.

The PMLI supported the Iranian Revolution
Iranian Revolution
The Iranian Revolution refers to events involving the overthrow of Iran's monarchy under Shah Mohammad Reza Pahlavi and its replacement with an Islamic republic under Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, the leader of the...

 as anti-imperialist revolution and a Party leader visited Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...

 in 1992.

In 1993, the PMLI took part at an International Seminary on Mao Zedong Thought organized by the Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany
Marxist-Leninist Party of Germany
The Marxist–Leninist Party of Germany is an Anti-Revisionist Marxist-Leninist, Maoist, Communist political party in Germany without parliamentary representation...

.

Actually, the PMLI has close links with the Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Greece
Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Greece
The Marxist-Leninist Communist Party of Greece better known by its acronym M-L KKE , is a Anti-Revisionist Marxist-Leninist and Maoist, communist political party in Greece....

, the Marxist-Leninist Centre in Mexico
Marxist-Leninist Centre in Mexico
The Marxist-Leninist Centre in Mexico is a communist organization located in Mexico.The MLCM supports Marxism-Leninism and Maoism and its aim is to establish a revolutionary party in Mexico. It has strong ties with the Italian Marxist-Leninist Party , that defines its "elder brother"...

 and the Marxist-Leninist Party of Ukraine
Marxist-Leninist Party of Ukraine
The Marxist-Leninist Party of Ukraine is a revolutionary Maoist party established in Ukraine between the end of 2004 and the beginning of 2005. Its Chairman is Arthur Ryabchenko....

. It has also relations with the Communist Party of the Philippines
Communist Party of the Philippines
The Communist Party of the Philippines is a leading communist party in the Philippines. It remains an underground political organization since its founding on December 26, 1968 and has been operating in clandestine manner since its founding...

, the Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina
Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina
The Revolutionary Communist Party of Argentina is a Maoist communist party from Argentina. It was founded in 1969 from a 1967/1968 split in the Communist Party of Argentina caused in part by the Sino-Soviet split. Its flag colors are the red and the yellow. It publishes Hoy.- External links :...

, the Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist
Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist
Communist Party of Turkey/Marxist-Leninist is a clandestine communist organization in Turkey currently waging a war against the Turkish Government. It was founded in 1972 with İbrahim Kaypakkaya as its first leader...

, the Revolutionary Communist Party of Uruguay and the Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation
Communist Party of India Liberation is a communist political party in India.Communist Party of India was formed in 1969 by the All India Coordination Committee of Communist Revolutionaries, who had split from Communist Party of India in 1967...

.
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