Róger Calero
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Róger Calero (born 1969 in Nicaragua) is one of the leaders of the Socialist Workers Party. He is a Communist political organizer, and was running for U.S. President in the 2004 election.
Calero, a former meat packer, has been associate editor of Perspectiva Mundial (official Spanish language newspaper of the SWP) and a staff writer for The Militant (official English language newspaper of the SWP). Calero moved to the United States in 1985 and has been a permanent resident alien (holding a green card) since 1990.
Calero was convicted of felony sale of marijuana in 1988; he was threatened with deportation in 2002 as a result of this conviction. The SWP considers the conviction to have been a political attack and launched a huge campaign in defense of Calero, mobilizing the party’s members and supporters in the U.S. and all over the world. Eventually, the U.S. government gave in to the protests and released Calero in 2003 and cancelled the deportation. The same year, Calero went on an international tour, visiting not only the major cities in the US, but also Canada, Australia, the United Kingdom, Sweden and Iceland to greet his supporters.
In 2004, Róger Calero was running for President of the United States representing the SWP, and with Arrin Hawkins running for Vice President. As a non-citizen, Calero is technically ineligible to become U.S. president under the United States Constitution, and so James Harris, the Socialist Workers' Party presidential candidate from 2000, stood in on the ticket in some states where Calero could not be listed.
In the United States Senate elections, 2006, Róger Calero appeared on the ballot in New York as the Socialist Workers Party candidate.
| Preceded by: James Harris |
Socialist Workers Party Presidential candidate 2004 (lost) |
Succeeded by: none |
