The Workers Party of Barbados was a Marxist political party in Barbados. The party was established on 1 May 1985 by Dr. George Belle, who served as the general secretary of the party.Политические партии: справочник Изд-во полит. лит-ры, 1986. p. 286 The party had a pro-Soviet orientation and grew out of MONALI, an earlier Marxist movement based at the Cave Hill University of the West Indies campus which had gained national notoriety during the 1983 Grenada invasion.Perry Mars. Ideology and Change: The Transformation of the Caribbean Left. Wayne State University Press, 1998. pp. 58-59Latin American Regional Reports: Caribbean report. Latin American Newsletters, Limited, 1984. p. 8 When announcing the transformation of MONALI into the Workers Party of Barbados, Belle affirmed the party would be organized along the lines of democratic centralism and would work on a basis of a programme of "progressive reforms and revolutionary democratic demands".Quarterly Economic Review of Trinidad & Tobago, Guyana, Barbados, Windward & Leeward Islands, Vol. 1. Economist Intelligence Unit Limited, 1985. pp. 16, 19 The founders of the party included trade unionist Ricky Parry.Antilla, Issues 157-177. Imprimerie Absalon, 1985. p. 28
The party contested the 1986 elections, when it presented two candidates.Barbados General Election Results - 28 May 1986 Caribbean Elections The party received just 40 votes, failed to win a seat, and did not run in any further elections.Dieter Nohlen (2005) Elections in the Americas: A data handbook, Volume I, p91
WPB called for a boycott of the 1986 Commonwealth Games, in protest against Margaret Thatcher's support for participation of South African athletes.Heather L. Dichter, Andrew L. Johns. Diplomatic Games: Sport, Statecraft, and International Relations since 1945. University Press of Kentucky, 2014 Barbados later joined the boycott of the event.
Electoral history ElectionParty leader Votes % Seats +/– Position Outcome1986George Belle400.03 0 3rd
References
External links George Belle