Marxist-Leninist Party (Communist Reconstruction)

Marxist-Leninist Party (Communist Reconstruction) (Spanish: Partido Marxista-Leninista (Reconstrucción Comunista), originally Spanish: Reconstrucción Comunista, RC) is a Marxist-Leninist and Hoxhaist political party operating in Spain, officially registered since 2014. Currently, the party has a presence in the Basque Country, Majorca, Valencia, Catalonia, Andalusia, Galicia and Madrid.

Marxist-Leninist Party (Communist Reconstruction) Partido Marxista-Leninista (Reconstrucción Comunista)
Secretary-General	Roberto Vaquero
Founded	October 2014, 06
Headquarters	c/ Tirant lo Blanc, nº 23, València (closed by court order)[1][2]
Student wing	Estudiantes en Lucha
Youth wing	Juventud Marxista-Leninista (Reconstrucción Comunista)
Ideology	Communism Marxism–Leninism Anti-revisionism Hoxhaism Anti-fascism Proletarian internationalism Republicanism
Political position	Far-left
International affiliation	International Freedom Battalion ICOR (until 2019)
Trade union affiliation	Frente de Obreros en Lucha
Party flag
Website
reconstruccioncomunista.es
Politics of Spain Political parties Elections

History

The party's trajectory began in 2009 under the name of Communist Reconstruction (Spanish: Reconstrucción Comunista). It was formed by communists who were active in other organisations and decided to form their own independent organisation.

The party has strong ties with the Turkish party MLKP thanks to having joined the ICOR, and defends the Rojava Revolution and the Kurdish movement. Two members of the party (only one of them continues its activity in the currently banned PML(RC) party) have joined the International Freedom Battalion in Rojava and Sinjar. In July 2015 these two members of RC were arrested due to their involvement in the war against ISIS.[3]

The January 27, 2016, eight members of the party and a Kurdish citizen were arrested by the Spanish police for supposedly collaborating with the PKK (the so-called Operación Valle).[4] Seven were later released, but two members, including the secretary general of the party, Roberto Vaquero, were jailed.[5] On January 29, 2016 all the headquarters of the party were closed down by an order of the Spanish National Court (Spanish: Audiencia Nacional) and the party was suspended for one year.[6]

Resumption of political activities after legalisation

At the end of the year of precautionary measure and not being extended by the Audiencia Nacional, the PML(RC) was acquitted of all the charges against it, and resumed its public activity by holding a parade in commemoration of the Republic on April 8, 2017.

Controversies

The organisation has been described as a "sect" and/or a "mafia" by different ex-militants and dissidents who, after a particular experience in that group, have ended up leaving it at the cost of threats, persecutions and attacks of various kinds. One of the most popular cases has been that of a Valencian university student who, upon leaving the aforementioned group, known colloquially as "RC", was attacked by active militant members, calling her a "backslider".[7] It is estimated that this type of aggression has occurred throughout the existence of this organization but it has been hidden for image reasons; A series of former members who held high positions within were interviewed by an ideological platform of the anti-fascist left[8] and corroborated this type of information in the company of others of the same nature: sexist behavior on the part of the Leader, absence of democracy, coercion of doubtful members, etc. The same platform collects in a larger anthology other testimonies of former members attacked or threatened for their criticism of the organization.[9]

The brigadista himself who marched to fight the Islamic State in Syria and who was interviewed by Risto Mejide (A Spanish journalist)[10] ended up breaking his ties with the organization and explaining the mafia and gangster character of his ex-organization.[11]

References

1. Registro de Partídos Políticos.
2. El juez prohíbe las actividades de Reconstrucción Comunista y envía a la cárcel a su secretario general El Mundo. ÁNGELES VÁZQUEZ, Madrid, 29/01/2016
3. Detenidos dos comunistas españoles que lucharon contra el Estado Islámico. El País. JORGE A. RODRÍGUEZ Madrid 7 JUL 2015.
4. EFE (27 January 2016). "Los nueve detenidos por ayudar al PKK turco integraban el grupo Reconstrucción Comunista".
5. Prisión para el líder de Reconstrucción Comunista por colaborar con el PKK kurdo. El Diario. EFE Madrid. 29/01/2016 - 17:15h
6. El juez prohíbe las actividades de Reconstrucción Comunista y envía a la cárcel a su secretario general El Mundo. ÁNGELES VÁZQUEZ, Madrid, 29/01/2016
7. EFE (2020-08-20). "Abofetea a su amiga por dejar el Partido Marxista Leninista de Reconstrucción Comunista". Levante-EMV. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
8. "Bitácora Marxista-Leninista: Entrevista a dos exmiembros del Comité Central de Reconstrucción Comunista sobre su experiencia en dicha organización; Equipo de Bitácora (M-L), 2017". Bitácora Marxista-Leninista. 2019-03-20. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
9. "Bitácora Marxista-Leninista: Antología sobre Reconstrucción Comunista y su podredumbre oportunista; Equipo de Bitácora (M-L), 2020". Bitácora Marxista-Leninista. 2020-10-02. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
10. "Paco Arcadio: "Le dije a mis padres que me iba de ayuda humanitaria a Turquía" - Al Rincón - YouTube". www.youtube.com. Retrieved 2020-12-17.
11. "Paco Arcadio, combatió a Daesh: "Yo no cobré en ningún momento, fui voluntario. He tenido que cambiar mi vida"". LaSexta (in Spanish). 2017-10-28. Retrieved 2020-12-17.