Socialist International

The Socialist International is a worldwide organization of social democratic, democratic socialist and labour political parties. It was formed in 1951.

[edit] History
The Second International, which was formed in 1889 and dissolved on the eve of World War I in 1914 and the Labour and Socialist International which dissolved itself in 1940 with the rise of nazism and the start of World War II, constituted some of the same parties that would later form the Socialist International. Among the Second International's most famous actions were its 1889 declaration of 1 May as International Workers Day and its 1910 declaration of 8 March as International Women's Day.

While the Second International was split by the outbreak of World War I, a skeleton form survived through the International Socialist Commission. The International re-formed in 1923 (as the Labour and Socialist International), and was reconstituted again, in its present form, after World War II (during which many social democratic and socialist parties had been suppressed in Nazi-occupied Europe).

During the post-World War II period, the SI aided social democratic parties in re-establishing 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[1]. In the 1980s, most SI parties gave their backing to the Nicaraguan Sandinistas (FSLN), whose left-wing government had incited enmity 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.

The current Secretary General of the Socialist International is Luis Ayala (Chile), who has held the post since 1989.

[edit] Presidents

 * Morgan Phillips 1951-1957
 * Alsing Andersen 1957-1962
 * Erich Ollenhauer 1963
 * Bruno Pittermann 1964-1976
 * Willy Brandt 1976-1992
 * Pierre Mauroy 1992-1999
 * António Guterres 1999-2005
 * George Papandreou 2006-present

[edit] Honorary Presidents

 * Pierre Mauroy
 * Ruben Berrios Martinez
 * Philippe Busquin
 * Alan García
 * Anita Gradin
 * Elazar Granot
 * Anker Jørgensen
 * Neil Kinnock
 * Enrique Silva Cimma
 * Mário Soares
 * Hans-Jochen Vogel

[edit] Summits

 * 1) Frankfurt 1951
 * 2) Milan 1952
 * 3) Stockholm 1953
 * 4) London 1955
 * 5) Vienna 1957
 * 6) Hamburg 1959
 * 7) Rome 1961
 * 8) Amsterdam 1963
 * 9) Brussels 1964
 * 10) Stockholm 1966
 * 11) Eastbourne 1969
 * 12) Vienna 1972
 * 13) Geneva 1976
 * 14) Vancouver 1978
 * 15) Madrid 1980
 * 16) Albufeira 1983
 * 17) Lima 1986
 * 18) Stockholm 1989
 * 19) Berlin 1992
 * 20) New York 1996
 * 21) Paris 1999
 * 22) São Paulo 2003
 * 23) Athens 2008

[edit] Consultative parties

 * Azerbaijan - Social Democratic Party
 * Belarus - Belarusian Social Democratic Party (People's Assembly)
 * Burundi - Front for Democracy in Burundi
 * Dominica - Dominica Labour Party-in government
 * Fiji - Fiji Labour Party
 * Gabon - Gabonese Progress Party
 * Guatemala - Social Democratic Convergence
 * Greenland - Forward-in opposition
 * Guyana - Working People's Alliance
 * Mali - Rally for Mali
 * Namibia - Congress of Democrats
 * Paraguay - Party for a Country of Solidarity
 * Philippines - Akbayan Citizens' Action Party
 * Philippines - Philippine Democratic Socialist Party
 * Russia - Union of Social Democrats
 * Saint Kitts and Nevis - Saint Kitts and Nevis Labour Party-in government
 * Saint Lucia - Saint Lucia Labour Party
 * Saint Vincent and the Grenadines - Unity Labour Party-in government
 * Timor-Leste - Revolutionary Front for an Independent East Timor
 * Togo - Democratic Convention of African Peoples
 * Tunisia - Democratic Forum for Labour and Freedom
 * Northern Cyprus - Republican Turkish Party (pending consultation)
 * Ukraine - Socialist Party of Ukraine
 * Ukraine - Social Democratic Party of Ukraine (merged with the Human Rights Party into the Ukrainian Social Democratic Party)
 * Venezuela - For Social Democracy (PODEMOS)

[edit] Observer parties

 * Botswana - Botswana National Front
 * Bulgaria - Bulgaria Social Democracy
 * Central African Republic - Patriotic Front for Progress
 * Colombia - Alternative Democratic Pole
 * Democratic Republic of the Congo - Union for Democracy and Social Progress
 * Haiti - Organisation of the People in Struggle
 * India - Janata Dal (Secular)
 * Iran - Kurdistan Democratic Party of Iran
 * Jordan - Jordanian Democratic Party of the Left
 * Moldova - Social Democratic Party
 * Palestine - Fatah
 * Palestine - Palestinian National Initiative
 * Russia - Just Russia-support president Medvedev
 * Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic - Polisario Front-in government
 * Yemen - Yemeni Socialist Party

[edit] Fraternal organisations

 * International Falcon Movement - Socialist Education International
 * International Union of Socialist Youth
 * Socialist International Women

[edit] Associated organisations

 * International Federation of the Socialist and Democratic Press
 * International Labour Sports Confederation
 * International League of Religious Socialists
 * International Social Democratic Union for Education
 * International Jewish Labor Bund
 * National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (United States of America)
 * Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats
 * Party of European Socialists
 * Social Democratic Group of the Latin American Parliament
 * World Labour Zionist Movement