Socialist Party of National Liberation

The Socialist Party of National Liberation (Catalan: Partit Socialista d'Alliberament Nacional, PSAN) is an independentist and communist party active in Catalonia. The PSAN was created in 1968 following a split in the more leftist sector of the National Front of Catalonia. Initially it was only present the Catalonia, but later also gained presence in the french region of Roussillon (September 1971), the Valencian Community (July 1974) and the Balearic Islands (February 1976). The party was illegal and clandestine until 1978, when all parties were fully legalised, after the Franco Dictatorship. History Origins In March 1969 the Constituent Assembly of the party was celebrated. In this assembly the organization officially adopted a communist and independentist ideology. Joaquim Maurín, Jaume Vicens i Vives and the classical international marxist authors were the most important theoretical inspirations the party. The influence of the Third World revolutionary movements, specially the Cuban Revolution, the Vietcong and the Algerian FLN was also very important. The Basque organization Euskadi Ta Askatasuna (ETA) and the Galician People's Union (UPG) were also references, both in theory and practice. The main objectives of the party were: the expulsion of the occupation forces, the territorial unity of the Catalan Countries, the creation of a Catalan socialist state and the constitution of a Catalan socialist society in an international socialist society. The strategic line of the party was defined as: Awareness of dual national and social oppression. Organisation of the working class and other popular sectors. Organizational autonomy and generalization of the struggle. The PSAN also established some minimum points to negotiate with other parties: freedom of association, right to strike, the statute of Núria 1932, at least similar statutes to the Valencian Country and the Balearic Islands. The PSAN criticized the National Front of Catalonia (FNC) for being in the past and established a new organizational model: Bases d'Enquadrament, divided into fronts (students, union, education, comarques and neighborhoods) and a service of propaganda and education, which is in charge of publications, including the magazine, Lluita, published since August 1969. Assembly of representatives, the central committee of the party (15 to 20 members). Executive Board, responsible for policy direction, coordination of the party and the propaganda apparatus.