Communist UFOs and Nuclear Armageddon: The Wild World of the Posadists

In the vast and often contentious history of political thought, few ideologies are as bewildering and strangely captivating as Posadism. Imagine a philosophy that takes the revolutionary fervor of Marxism-Leninism and injects it with a fervent belief in flying saucers, interspecies communication with dolphins, and the absolute necessity of a nuclear apocalypse. It sounds like science fiction, but for a dedicated group of followers of the Argentine Trotskyist J. Posadas, it was a coherent and necessary worldview.

From Trotsky to Flying Saucers

The story begins with Homero Rómulo Cristalli Frasnelli, better known by his pseudonym, J. Posadas. In the mid-20th century, Posadas was a prominent leader within the Trotskyist Fourth International, particularly in Latin America. However, by 1962, his increasingly unorthodox views led to a schism, and he and his followers formed the Fourth International–Posadist. While rooted in traditional Trotskyist principles—such as the theory of permanent revolution—Posadism soon veered into uncharted territory.

The Apocalypse as a Catalyst

Perhaps the most jarring tenet of Posadism is its embrace of nuclear war. While the rest of the world lived in terror of atomic annihilation during the Cold War, the Posadists saw it as a grim but essential step towards global communism. Their logic was that a nuclear conflict between the capitalist United States and the 'degenerated workers' states' like the Soviet Union was inevitable. This cataclysm would destroy the structures of capitalism, allowing the surviving proletariat to rise from the ashes and build a socialist utopia. For them, nuclear war wasn't an end, but a violent, painful, and necessary beginning.

Enter the Space Comrades

This is where the theory takes a sharp turn towards the extraterrestrial. Posadas reasoned that any alien civilization capable of interstellar travel must have overcome the internal contradictions that lead to war, poverty, and inequality. In other words, they must have achieved a communist society. He saw the growing number of UFO sightings in the 20th century as evidence that these advanced 'space comrades' were visiting Earth to observe our primitive, capitalist struggles. Posadas urged his followers to appeal to these visitors for help in achieving our own revolution.

We must call upon the beings from other planets when they come to intervene, to collaborate with Earth’s inhabitants in suppressing misery. We must ask them to use their resources to help us.

Beyond UFOs, Posadas' interests extended to other unconventional ideas. He championed communication with dolphins, believing their large brains held immense potential, and explored parapsychology, thinking that phenomena like ESP could be harnessed under a socialist system.

The Internet's Favorite Eccentrics

After J. Posadas' death in 1981, the movement largely faded into obscurity, with only a few small groups remaining today. However, in the age of the internet, Posadism has found a strange new life. It has become a popular political meme, a shorthand for the most outlandish leftist 'fringe' beliefs. Online communities often share jokes about 'fully automated luxury gay space communism' with a Posadist twist, celebrating the absurdity of welcoming nuclear fire and alien saviors. While often mocked, this online revival speaks to a fascination with an ideology that dared to blend revolutionary politics with the furthest reaches of speculative science fiction.

Ultimately, Posadism stands as a peculiar footnote in political history—a testament to how ideologies can evolve in the most unexpected directions, merging cosmic wonder with apocalyptic fervor in a way that continues to fascinate and baffle us today.

Sources

• Wikipedia: Fourth International–Posadist
• VICE: The Communist Who Believed in Aliens and Dolphins
• Jacobin: J. Posadas, the Trotskyist Who Believed in Intergalactic Communism