the question of spain forced the belgian lci to clarify its positions and a split ensued as a result of debate within its ranks. at its february 1937 conference, a minority of the lci led by mitchell defended the positions of the italian left and were expelled. although less than ten in number, they formed a belgian fraction of the communist left. it was at this point that the italian left learned of a group called the grupo de trabajadores in mexico with very similar positions to their own. it was led by paul kirchhoff and had left the mexican trotskyist movement. kirchoff had formerly been a member of the communist party in germany, then a trotskyist in the united states, but his tiny group would seem to have disappeared at the outbreak of war in 1939. in early 1938, the italian and belgian fractions formed an international bureau of the left fractions which published a review called "octobre".