The Socialist International (SI) is a worldwide group which wants to establish democratic socialism. Most of its members are democratic socialist, social democratic, and labour political parties.
History
Its name is from the Second International, which was formed in 1889 and dissolved on the eve of World War I in 1914.
Some of the Second International's most famous actions were its 1889 declaration of 1 May as International Labour Day and its 1910 declaration of 8 March as International Women's Day. The Second International was split by the outbreak of World War I. A small part carried on as the International Socialist Commission. The International re-formed in 1923 (as the Labour and Socialist International), and was re organised again, in its present form, after World War II. Many social democratic and socialist parties had been suppressed in Nazi-occupied Europe.
Since World War II, the SI helped social democratic parties to re-start themselves when dictatorship gave way to democracy in Portugal (1974) and Spain (1975).
Until its 1976 Geneva Congress, the Socialist International had few members outside Europe and no formal involvement with Latin America. In the 1980s, most SI parties gave their backing to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas (FSLN), whose left-wing government had incited hatred from the United States. Since then, the SI has admitted as member-parties not only the FSLN but also the centre-left Puerto Rican Independence Party, as well as the ex-Communist parties such as the Italian Democrats of the Left (Democratici di Sinistra (DS)) and the Front for the Liberation of Mozambique (FRELIMO).
The Party of European Socialists, a European political party active in the European Parliament, is an associated organisation of the Socialist International.
Presidents
In 2022, Pedro Sánchez, leader of the Spanish Socialist Workers' Party, became the president of the Socialist International. 1951-1957: Morgan Phillips 1957-1962: Alsing Andersen 1963: Erich Ollenhauer 1964-1976: Bruno Pittermann 1976-1992: Willy Brandt 1992-1999: Pierre Mauroy 1999-2005: António Guterres 2006-2022: George Papandreou 2022-present: Pedro Sánchez
Honorary Presidents
Ruben Berrios Martinez
Congresses
Members
Full members
The following parties are full members:
Consultative parties
The following parties are consultative parties:
Observer parties
The following parties are observer parties: