 Weisbord had been expelled from the Communist Party in 1929, ostensibly for being something of a loose cannon in his activities.Instead of joining with Jim Cannon and his lieutenants Martin Abern and Max Shachtman in the Communist League of America, however, Weisbord had determined to start his own group.The CLS pointedly styled itself a vanguard party adhering to "the International Left Opposition, led by Leon Trotsky."