Martín Koppel is one of the leaders of the Socialist Workers Party in the United States.

Early life

Before joining the staff of the SWP's paper ''

The Militant ''The Militant'' is an international socialist newsweekly connected to the Socialist Workers Party (SWP) and the Pathfinder Press. It is published in the United States and distributed in other countries such as Canada, the United Kingdom, ...

'' in 1991, he was a steelworker in Chicago and member of the United Steelworkers of America

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''U ...

Career

Koppel is a Communist political organizer, a native of

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

who grew up in the United States. Koppel first became involved in

political activism Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range ...

while an exchange student in

Marseille, France Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern France ...

. The next year, in 1977, he joined the Socialist Workers Party in

Baltimore Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

. He has been active in defense of the Cuban Revolution, and was a longtime supporter of

Puerto Rican independence Throughout the history of Puerto Rico, its inhabitants have initiated several movements to obtain independence for the island, first from the Spanish Empire from 1493 to 1898 and since then from the United States. A spectrum of pro-autonomy, ...

. Koppel has also traveled extensively in Latin America and the

Caribbean The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean S ...

to take part in political conferences and meet workers and peasants, from the Movement of Rural Landless Workers in Brazil to working class protests in

, Mexico, the Dominican Republic, Nicaragua, and

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and ...

Writings

Koppel is the author of ''Peru's

Shining Path The Shining Path ( es, Sendero Luminoso), officially the Communist Party of Peru (, abbr. PCP), is a communist guerrilla group in Peru following Marxism–Leninism–Maoism and Gonzalo Thought. Academics often refer to the group as the Commu ...

: Evolution of a Stalinist Sect'', published by

Pathfinder Press Pathfinder may refer to: Businesses * Pathfinder Energy Services, a division of Smith International * Pathfinder Press, a publisher of socialist literature Computing and information science * Path Finder, a Macintosh file browser * Pathfinder ...

in 1994.

Political career

2004 election

In 2004, Koppel ran for the US Senate seat from New York against

Chuck Schumer Charles Ellis Schumer ( ; born November 23, 1950) is an American politician serving as Senate Majority Leader since January 20, 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, Schumer is in his fourth Senate term, having held his seat since 1999, and ...

. He received 14,811 for 0.2 percent of the vote.

2006 election

In 2006 Koppel ran for attorney general of New York. He received 10,197 votes, for 0.2 percent of the total vote.

External links

The Militant, weekly paper reflecting the views of the Socialist Workers PartyPathfinder Press
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koppel, Martin Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American political writers American male non-fiction writers Argentine emigrants to the United States Maryland socialists People from Baltimore People from Chicago Socialist Workers Party (United States) politicians from New York (state) Writers from Chicago