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Chavez answers your questionsBBC World's Talking Point is fielding questions from the audience for President Hugo Chavez of Venezuela. Post your own question to him here. So far most of them are pretty congratulatory. "I love your stance, etc". I wonder if the Chavez camp is fielding the questions too. Either way, I doubt the BBC would ask, "OK, once and for all. Did you rig the elections?" no matter who posed the question. Here's what I would like to know: A major part of the World Social Forum will take place in your capital city Caracas in January 2006. You were the star speaker at last year's World Social Forum in Brazil, which attracted more than 100,000 activists from around the world. And you quoted outcomes from the Forum in your speech at the UN Summit in September. As a head of state, how have you become such a popular figure among activists, and what do you hope the Forum will achieve in 2006? October 17, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) World Social Forum x 3It's hello-time for the 6th World Social Forum. It's being held in three different cities this time, January 2006. Pick a location near you: Caracas (Venezuela), Karachi (Pakistan) and Bamako (Mali). They're calling it a "polycentric" forum, an adjective so fair it probably took an entire committee to agree on. My guess is most of the action will be in Venezuela. If you'd like to organise and register activities at the Forum, alone or with other organisations, you've got a few weeks to do it on the different Forum websites. I'm hoping to go to Caracas so I might say hello to my pal Chavez again. He was the star speaker of the last WSF in Porto Alegre, and no doubt he will be the star at the next. He wouldn't have it any other way. Would anyone like to bet on Castro making a surprise appearance? How will the global left respond to being personal guests of the rebellious Chavez government? How will it influence the process and the outcomes? This is going to be very interesting to follow. September 28, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) North American Social ForumNorth American activists are struggling to find a good way to hold a regional social forum in North America. "Activists in the US face the irony of living in the most powerful country but also having the most disempowered citizenry," say Thomas Ponniah and Marc Becker in a summary of the discussion delegates had at the World Social Forum in Brazil this year. How to engage youth and people of colour, and how to pay for the whole shebang were major issues of concern... An interesting piece that shows the North American Forum is still some way off, and why. March 16, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (9) Through creative chaosOne more comment on the Porto Alegre Consensus Manifesto, the ‘12 recommendations… which, if they were applied, would permit citizens to at last seize control again of their future.’ Just another organisational dog-fight between lefties? Actually, this is one of the most important arguments that the left is having today, about the nature of people power and change, and whether the left have learnt anything at all since the last time around. Continue reading "Through creative chaos" March 7, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) More forum feedbackHere's a pretty interesting critique of the World Social Forum from Alex Callinicos and Chris Nineham in the UK on ZNet. They mention how Lula's grand appearance and strong worker's party (PT) presence flouts the official WSF rules that ban "party representations" from participating in the Forum. They've also got a bone to pick with organisers about the the themes, the agenda, and the outcome. So do Kim Foltz, Suren Moodliar and Jason Pramas in their very thorough (long) report in six parts. Links: "Critical reflections on the Fifth World Social Forum" February 16, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Porto Alegre Manifesto in EnglishPrevious posts in this blog speak of the Porto Alegre Consensus Manifesto. Basically, this is a World Social Forum document that was drafted and signed by 19 high profile thinkers. The idea was for Forum participants to agree on clear set of goals for world economic reform. The result has been controversy about whether or not the Forum should have a manifesto, and whether it should have been drafted in this (some say) top-down way. Does it represent the views of the Forum? What should we think if it does? Here's a list of the first 19 who signed. Recognise any of the names? Aminata Traoré, Adolfo Pérez Esquivel, Eduardo Galeano, José Saramago, François Houtart, Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Armand Mattelart, Roberto Savio, Riccardo Petrella, Ignacio Ramonet, Bernard Cassen, Samir Amin, Atilio Boron, Samuel Ruiz Garcia, Tariq Ali, Frei Betto, Emir Sader, Walden Bello, Immanuel Wallerstein. Until now, there hasn't been an English version on the web. This is a rough translation from Spanish, courtesy of Daniel Bloch in New York (click below). Continue reading "Porto Alegre Manifesto in English" February 11, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (61) | TrackBack (2) Has DAVOS got the message?Could the torch of progress have passed from Porto Alegre to Davos? Davos! Four years ago, Davos was the gathering of a neo-liberal elite who apparently believed that their networking helped markets to run the world while putting government on the run. The hyper-confidence of what my friend the late Paul Hirst called the ‘hyper-globalisers’ was punctured by huge, peaceful mobilisation at Seattle and then, in a very different way, by vicious conspiratorial mass-violence on 9/11. Now, it seems, the notorious penny has dropped for the rich and wealthy. Simon Zadek who blogged Davos for the second time for openDemocracy reports how he could not get away from people talking about the need for better global government. Africa, development, AIDS, even accountability, are on the tongues of the Davosites. And at Porto Alegre? The World Social Forum seems to be repeating itself as a protest in search of a strategy. Solana, just back (see below), thinks it should just be itself as a space for learning and practical exchange. Its sheer size suggests this is right. But the lavish praise for Chavez’s populism shows that the WSF is even more prone to glamour than Davos and less intelligent. (On Chavez, just compare Roger Burbach of CENSA with Ivan Briscoe in openDemocracy.) There is a counter-argument: that the spaces the WSF creates (for women, in its regional meetings such as the Middle East, in its attention to open-source) provides a framework for progressive politics that could not have happened without it. Fred Halliday may see the dustbin-lid of history. But is he just seeing the rhetoric? Below it are new forms of future life taking shape, as personified in the three portraits of forum activists? Oh yes? The time for an easy assumption of superiority is over. Who is doing more to combat global inequality now? February 4, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0) Next Year's ForumFinal decisions on next year's meeting will be taken in April, but it looks more than likely that the World Social Forum in 2006 will be chopped up and spread out to different regions of the world. It's not clear how these meetings would differ from the regional social forums that already exist. In 2007, the organising committee has promised that Africa will host the Forum. You can read the announcement in English here, but note that they have confused the dates a little. And some numbers: More than 200,000 people took part in the Forum opening march in Porto Alegre. In total, there have been 155,000 participants, of whom 35,000 stayed in the Youth Camp and 6,880 were lecturers. People from 135 countries have been involved in 2,500 activities and 2,800 volunteers helped in the event. February 3, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Time to Get PracticalI’ve been discussing forum experiences with people over the past few days. It’s not just me who felt the Forum in 2003 was more emotionally charged, more inspiring, more energising. I’ve been here all week, and yet I feel like I haven’t been here at all. I didn’t meet dozens of new friends and colleagues, and I wasn’t really inspired by more than one or two of the events (and I do speak both Spanish and Portuguese). Most nights I was even too tired to stay awake for the salsa in the Cuba tent at 2am. James called it an “intellectual bust”, and Caspar offered a more nuanced position. But it’s hard to know exactly where to direct criticism when no one can really say with conviction what the forum is for. Events were repetitive, and largely pointless. Neither organisers nor attendees seemed to have put much thought into what was supposed to come out of the meetings, and there was seldom dialogue off the panels. The meeting tents were very far away from each other in sweltering heat, and the youth camp was so integrated with the recreational areas, that you were more likely to meet Brazilian “WSF tourists” who came to hang out, than dedicated activists from organisations around the world. I think the three global goodies of the forum are: 1) Learning from the experience and knowledge of others, 2) Planning and organising campaigns and events together, 3) Networking with other organisations If I were organising the WSF, I would abolish the eleven “thematic terrains” (with names no one can remember), and substitute them with just three spaces.... Continue reading "Time to Get Practical" February 3, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Fred Halliday: Bin the WSF?Oh Dear. Fred Halliday in Sunday's Observer in the UK, on why he thinks the World Social Forum belongs in the "Third Dustbin of History". I don't think he's arguing that all activists need PhDs before they're worth listening to. But he is on a quest for "tougher" thinking, and on that it's hard to disagree. Link: It's time to bin the past January 31, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0) HUGE Chavez"Ole, ole, ole, ole, Chavez, Chavez!" Rock stars don't get the kind of adulation that the president of Venezuela Hugo Chavez received as he strolled to the mike before the15,000-strong crowd that crammed Gigantinho stadium in Porto Alegre this evening. The speech was powerful, passionate and ideologically loaded. "Know your enemy," Chavez warned. "Don't underestimate the empire, but be aware of its weaknesses," he advised. The current enemy, lo and behold, is American imperialism. And I cannot recall seeing a democratically elected head of state antagonize the United States this openly -- ever. But the beginning of his two-hour speech was just as lighthearted as the end was heavy. Chavez began by sending an (affectionate? populist?) "hug from the bottom of my heart to all of you here." A few minutes later, he announced he'd be speaking in Spanish due to his weak 'portunhol' (a mixture of Portuguese and Spanish) and his "absolute ignorance of English". The crowd laughed. Then he launched into a candid greeting to Fidel Castro, who he said would be "certainly watching over in Cuba." "How are you, Fidel?" Chavez asked. "What's going on?" Continue reading "HUGE Chavez " January 31, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) After ChavezIt’s 10pm and Chavez just finished his speech to the cheers of people a few miles away in the Gasometro cultural centre, which is at the heart of much forum activity. People have been watching it live on widescreens in the pressroom and in the main hall. That president sure likes to talk. I attended the press conference with him earlier today, and he quipped how he and Fidel Castro (another famous motormouth) had a conversation not long ago that lasted nine and a half hours. I believe him. But seriously, there is something really great about hearing a politician speak his mind and not beat around the bush – certainly not President Bush. So many of the things he says could have come straight from the mouth of a youth camp dweller. Against imperialism, for the people, for the environment. For the revolution. He also spoke of the new Latin American TV Network, Telesur, which he is helping to create to counter disinformation from the commercial mass media, like that which occurred when Chavez was kidnapped in an attempted coup in 2002.
I left the press conference early to catch the end of the “Future of the WSF” event that Caspar mentions below. Once I got there Caspar took off to try and catch Chavez at the Gigantinho stadium. It’s our version of being everywhere at once. On this issue of the "Porto Alegre Consensus" now dubbed the G-19 or Group of 19 (think G7). This wasn’t a name they came up with themselves – an article in a newspaper called TerraViva coined the term. And people like Immanuel Wallerstein – one of the signees – is not happy with it. According to him the whole proposal is born from the fact that no one has the power over the WSF. Fair enough, but when you have two Nobel prize winners among the originators and big names like Boaventura de Sousa Santos, Eduardo Galleano, Tariq Ali, Jose Saramago and Frei Betto among them, it’s no wonder there are few raised eyebrows about whether they are pulling rank, and trying to hijack the process. I don't think there is anything sinister about the idea - but I do think that reaching a consensus in this global gathering is a little optimistic. And probably not what the forum should be focussing on. (more on that soon) I haven’t found the text of the proposal online yet. But there is supposed to be one in four different languages on www.ipsterraviva.net - let me know if you find it. (photos by Ross Johnson) January 31, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Last out of the box: hopeSo as not to end on a sour note, here are two things. First, an "instant memory" site - under construction but open for business soon. Consider: the people at the forum are looking for autonomy and freedom - goals that are no less worthy for them than they are for the rich and privileged. Second, a scene late this afternoon at the India House (built to celebrate achievements of last year's WSF in Mumbai). As the session wound down, Indian and Brazilian delegates danced together and were very happy. Brazilian and Indian rhythms together. On the wall to one side, Gitanjali by Rabindranath Tagore: Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high January 30, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) A luta continuaAn open debate on the future of the forum assembled this afternoon to find that a "Group of 19" had jumped the gun and sketched a Porto Alegre Consensus. Participants in the debate, titled "Power relations at the WSF", were mostly unimpressed. For example, Ezequiel Adamovsky, who had spent the whole forum organising and participating in the caracol intergalactica (one of the liveliest and most networked spots at the forum), told me that he and his comrades were taken by surprise. Many felt, as he put it in when the debate started, that this was just another illustration of the capacity of NGOs with resources and money to seize the agenda away from grassroots activists (sorry if I'm mistranslating your Spanish, Ezequiel). The lines were drawn: on the one side, many agreed with Michael Hardt, co-author Multitude (is biopolitics Empire's new clothes?), who warned against false notions of representation. On the other Immanuel Wallerstein, one of the Consensus signatories, asked if you really want to change the world what do you propose instead of the action plan outlined in the Consensus? Meanwhile, in another part of the forest, Hugo Chávez is down at the Gigantinho (still speaking after more than an hour and a half as I write) bringing revolutionary bling if not bang to the end of the forum. Every few minutes, his voice rises to a ringing, rolling denunciation of imperlialismo. At one point, he sings a gentle song in praise of Che Guevara. The crowd loves every moment. As an icon, Ernesto Guevara is hands-down favourite at the forum. Che on T shirts. Che on handbags. Che on marijuana pouches. Che superimposed on the South American continent. His likeness outnumbers Bob Marley, Lenin, Trotsky or the Beatles by about fifty or even a hundred to one. Pictures Lula and Jesus are notable largely by their absence, although they are more common than Osama bin Laden, Ho Chi Minh and Joseph Stalin. January 30, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Open verdictJames Crabtree's previous entry in this blog, Porto reflecto, makes a coherent case on the shortcomings of the forum. But here are some caveats: 1."The dominant mode of communication is not dialogue, but exhortation". It's true that no one clear focus is yet emerging from the WSF. On the other hand, for particular groups with particular agendas that may be just fine. For example, architects, educators, environmentalists and others have told me they find the forum valuable for the opportunity to to share knowledge with people they wouldn't normally meet, and reflect on longer term goals. On the larger scale, many present at the WSF are likely to endorse the focus advocated by Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez when he addresses 12,000 people later today on "the South-North of Peoples". The WSF is also likely to help mobilse a lot of people for a world wide day of protest on 20
March against the US-led coalition in Iraq. Also, a meeting this afternoon with Immanuel Wallerstein, Chico Whitker and other intellectual and organisational luminaries will seek to address the "Who? Whom?" questions under the moniker "Power Relations at the WSF - An Open Debate on the Future of the Forum". January 30, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Porto Reflecto: Some WSF IssuesI’m leaving tomorrow. So, before team OD repairs again to watch the sunset from yellow boat on the river, its time for reflections. Or, perhaps, confessions. If you are reading this I bet you are thinking: what has this been about? What is the big news, the take-home, the thing-people-are-talking-about, the big idea? You'd be right to think that. I’ve been itching to find out too. Yesterday and today I’ve walked the length of the event in search of an answer. (This is no small undertaking. Traipsing from the Arts&Tech in Zone A to Spirituality&Peace in Zone K takes an hour and a half. In 35 degree heat, and with pale English skin, it is hazardous indeed.) I have watched events, in tents, covering labour relations in Asia, copyright reform, global democracy, non-violent protest, U.N. democratisation, hunger, poverty, the WTO, the rights of indigenous people, the rights of women, the wrongs of neo-liberalism and much more besides. It sounds like an OpenDemocracy dream; all these interesting topics, all in one place. But it isn't. As a jamboree, a gathering, an aesthetic feast-for-the-eyes, a celebration of dissent; this event is a triumph. But as a forum for new ideas it is a significant failure. Here is why. Continue reading "Porto Reflecto: Some WSF Issues " January 29, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) More Forum photosSpeaking of aesthetics - here are a few more pictures of what it looks like here. I didn't take them myself, but stole them from a goodnatured photographer, who in turn asked for a credit. His name is Calé. The first three photos of are the Youth Camp here. Two by day and one by night. Especially at night the camp feels like a lively village in the middle of a forest. There is live music, film screenings, beer, guitars, people hanging out - and tents as far as the eye can see. The official number of people sleeping here is 25,000+ but it must be many more by now. Actually the village analogy is not far off. They have local government at the camp, and each section elects representatives to help manage logistics.
But even with the gigantic youth camp, all hotels in the city booked, and the local population offering rooms for rent in a "solidarity housing" scheme - they've still filled schools, communal tents, and this big stadium with even more sleepers. Finally, there's a picture of Lula when he gave his talk the other day. He was wearing a snazzy white jacket that matched his translation headphones very neatly. (Click on the images to see them bigger)
January 29, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (39) | TrackBack (0) Geeks and SambaWindows doesn't dance. Bill Gates is Afriad of Brazil. A Government Minister who is "proud to be a hacker". So went this morning's packed congregation in the church of Open Source Software, Creative Commons, and Free Digital Lovin'. Zone A, the modestly titled Autonomous Thought, Reappropriation and Socialisation of Knowledge and Technology, hosted a luminous gathering of information age prophets: Manuel Castells, Gilberto Gil, John-Perry Barlow, Lawrence Lessig and others. Their drive for more open technology has increasingly made common cause with the saner elements of the anti-corporate movement who want reform of copyright law and greater freedom of expression. What relevance this to the WSF? Barlow explained: "Brazil currently spends more on software licences than it does on erradicating hunger". The country's embracing of open source software was just one of the reasons why this Grateful Dead Lyricist proclaimed "Gil is my Hero". He also told the less-than-likely tale of Bill Gates fleeing at the sight of an oncoming President Lula, over at Davos; such was the terror that the free-spirited Brazilians "with music in your genetic code" struck into the heart of Microsoft. (I wonder if Simon Zadek can confirm or deny?). Gil seemed pleased at this image: "I am a Minister" he said, "I am a musician. But above all I am a Hacker". And he hoped to see any number of "French Revolutions in the 21st Century", in trade, software and the acceptance of diversity. In amongst the fluff all the panelists seemed to agree that Brazil was a technology icon for the developing world. They didn't explain why anyone would want to be a geek in a country with beaches, sun and samba. But lead by their Minister of cool, and all happily licensed under creative commons, it was left to one of the questioners to wonder what good all this would be if one in ten Brazilians can't read? The audience was left to wonder how terrified Bill might be when they all can. This afternoon, on my penultimate day here, i'm off to the movies to watch a a film about Lula, and a film about Brazilian metal workers. And i'm going to think some more about why this event, for all its aesthetic appeal, is such an intellectual bust. More later. January 29, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0) All in the same boatIt’s not easy finding oneself or one’s cause here in Porto Alegre. Today and yesterday I spent the days bustling between other forum participants from tent to tent. What most people seem to do is glance at the programme and throw themselves at the mercy of chance. There are 11 themes at the forum, and each has its own area and a designated letter of the alphabet. Today I decided to spend some time in ‘G’, which is the section for “Peace, demilitarization, and struggle against free trade and debt”. And yes, I think that’s a broad subject too. Thankfully event browsing is socially acceptable. If you go to an event and don’t like it, it’s OK to stand up and walk to the next tent. There’s so much going on here at once: event organisers definitely have a tough job cut out for them getting people to stay put. Yesterday I couldn’t help grinning at the fact that there were less than 20 people gathered at the “Coalition for a World Parliament” meeting. How are they supposed to create a new world order with that sort of turnout? But they were there again today, and will be again tomorrow, I suppose – and maybe it will add up. They’re definitely determined. And I remember them from 2003. The Puerto Rican meet was interesting. Aside from some basic historical facts about how Puerto Rico was handed over to the Americans after the Spanish-American war, there was some economic analysis that put the islands economic dependence on the United States into perspective. Perhaps alternatives to the current de-facto colonisation are imaginable? Today, I walked into a meeting on the “Asian response to globalisation and war”. There were Indian trade unionists, Korean and Japanese. The next WTO meeting is being held in Hong Kong, and activists are gearing up for it already. One Korean trade unionist said they were going to “slow down “ or “de-rail” the “WTO train”- and she spoke of the Korean activist who committed suicide in protest of the WTO during the trade talks in Cancun last year, and described him as a hero. The Japanese rail worker on stage said he had been fired from his job because he belonged to a union that was against his government’s plans for rail privatisation. And the Indian representative affirmed his solidarity with the other Asian unions. The translation was shaky, and the delivery of some of the speeches was rocky. But I did feel as though I had been transmitted to an entirely different continent. Being here sometimes feels like eavesdropping on conversations that have nothing to do with me. But I guess the whole point is that it does have something to do with both you me, and everyone. I am going to think about that as I arrive 40 minutes late to meet collegues on a floating yellow boat, which doubles as a bar. January 28, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Vidal statisticsI never did meet John Vidal for a beer. He may be the only journalist from a mainstream British newspaper in Porto Alegre for the WSF, and is busy as a bee. Yesterday the Guardian published his piece on a free trade campaign. Today they published his account of Lula's reception at the forum (covered by James Crabtree and me in this blog yesterday). January 28, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Porto Alegre: Progressive now - and thenPorto Alegre is a warm, welcoming city. I spent half my life gallivanting around the world as a student and journalist, but it is still the place I consider home. Nestled by a river whose reflected sunset evokes pure childhood dreams, its muddy shores welcome me like a lost child every time I land back in its arms. But what’s this ‘idyllic’ place all about? It’s certainly not your typical ‘third world’ city. Brazil’s southernmost capital has the road infrastructure to rival many European cities, and stands as a bizarre anomaly to Brazil’s violent and profoundly unequal urban centres. Its roads are cleaner. Its slums are rarer. Its street kids are fewer. ‘Porto-alegrenses’ are proud of the city they affectionately call Porto. Try criticizing the place and locals will rebuke loud and clear that it is ‘the best city in the world’. This blind parochial patriotism has only grown since Porto Alegre became host to the first, second, third – and now fifth World Social Forum. But why Porto Alegre? For starters, the state capital of Rio Grande do Sul has a long history of democracy and very active social movements... (there's more if you click on the link below) Continue reading "Porto Alegre: Progressive now - and then" January 28, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Local Media Play Up WSFWho says the media don't care about the World Social Forum? While reporting might be negligible in most mainstream Western media, Porto Alegre's two major daily newspapers offered extensive coverage of the event. A quick survey of the city's two largest newspapers illustrates the point. Zero Hora, southern Brazil's largest metro daily, ran two cover stories on the summit. The main piece runs beneath a half-page photo of activists marching down the waterfront whilst carrying a gigantic beachball-like inflatable globe. The lead compares the march to a carnival parade: 'Like a gigantic samba school split into groups of different colours, nationalities and causes, the WSF's four-hour Peace March ran through Central Porto Alegre announcing the opening of the Fifth World Social Forum'. The cover also teases a story on Lula's 'risky' visit to the event, suggesting that a hostile reception from WSF attendees is not out of the question. In total, Zero Hora ran 17 WSF stories across 14 pages. By contrast, local editors ran no more than three stories on the World Economic Forum, in Davos, all of which were squeezed into one measly page. Correio do Povo, the city's other main paper, also gave the World Social Forum front-page coverage. The headline reads: 'Historic march opens WSF', and the story highlights the unprecedented turnout of 200,000 people. Correio do Povo ran a total of 16 WSF stories over five pages, whilst publishing only three pieces on the Davos event. January 27, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Quick SilvaA few more jottings from the now well-underway Forum. I spoke to one of the participants in yesterday's opening march, who complained that the Brazillian media only cover the leftist Carnaval, steering well away from the huddled masses in their worthy but sweltering meetings, in the massed tents by the river. I can see why. The programme of events comes in three full-sized magazines; the opening march nailed this diaspora's diversity and oddity in one afternoon. There were old politics (red flags; signs proclaiming "luta", hammers, clenched fists), new politics (green flags, signs with trees), and odd politics (the gender movement, pink flags, a big sign loosely translated as "anal sex will screw capitalism"). And throughout the omnipresent totem of America. A friend quizzed other marchers on the most pressing worry facing the world. Given the often bizarre number of causes on offer he thought this would return an equally wide spread of issues. Not a bit of it; everyone answered "Booosh". Given this the first day ended oddly. Brazilian hero (and Minister for the Future) Gilberto Gil wrapped up his set with a balad tale of a 1940s brazillian actress who moved to Holywood. The final chorus, again roughly translated, repeats: "We all love America". All 20,000-odd in the crowd sang along. This mornings dose of "100% Lula" - which Caspar has ably written-up below - more than demonstrated that this wasn't exactly what they meant. The 100-strong contingent of renegage PSOL - expelled from Lula's PT party last year - held pictures they considered most damning: their hero shaking hands with You Know Who. The mostly Brazillian, mostly pro-Lula crowd responded with volleys of boos and rolled-up paper directed towards the dissenter's section. The protestors parleyed with chants to the effect that Lula was a Comrade in Blair's clothing: he promised much, delivered little; he said he would do one thing; he did they other. The Lula-istas fought-back with ever-louder chants of "oh-ay, oh-ay, oh-aay! Looolaaa! Loooola!", and more rolled-up paper. And, from the stage, their President answered the chants: "I was a young radical once" he said, "just as they are. But i have grown. And although they feel now that they cannot be part of what we try to achieve, we would welcome them back with open arms". The crowd - who didn't seem much interested in the preceding talk about "the quiet tsunami of global poverty" - finally came to their feet. Personality cults don't get much more fun than this. January 27, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Lula and the discontentedLuis Ignacio Lula da Silva came to town this morning and got a warm welcome, but not all the warmth was friendliness. As around 12,000 people packed into the Gigantinho, or "little giant", stadium to hear the Brazilian president help launch a global campaign against poverty and hunger, a small angry section in the bleachers chanted abuse. Outside, a much larger angry group faced off with police and security services. Inside the stadium the overwhelming majority of the crowd was "100% Lula!" so the opponents - who mostly identified with PSOL, PSTU and others among Brazil's dozen or so leftist political parties that don't get on with Lula's ruling PT - were largely drowned out, like a small band of away supporters at a home match. The global call to action against poverty (www.whiteband.org) is mostly mainstream stuff that a Tony Blair or Gordon Brown would endorse (with a qualification here or there). It includes: cancellation of all (odious) developing country debt; "fair" trade (usually defined these days as an end to "unfair" subsidies by the rich northern countries); and the rich countries to allocate at least 0.7% of the GDP in official development assistance (something OECD nations agreed in the 1970s but have never come close to reaching with the exception of the Scandinavians). Star speakers from Kenya, Mali, India and elsewhere joined Lula on stage, and icons in Brazilian cabinet including Gilberto Gil (rock superstar and minister of culture) and Marina da Silva (young, black, from the poorest of the poor and now minister of environment) smiled broadly in the front row of the audience. Lula has a tremendous physical presence. He is passionate, spontenous and fluent. His voice is as powerful as Nelson Mandela's at the height of his powers. One of those politicians you have to see in real time and space to understand. But his opponents - who accuse him of fatal compromise with neo-liberalism, and the wrong kind of pension reform - are having none of it. Here are some photos from the demo outside. The T shirt of the bearded man in the second picture shows a US soldier on fire and in agony as he escapes from a Hummer. (click on a picture to enlarge it)
January 27, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0) Camping with the MSTThe MST (Movimento Sem-Terra), Brazil's landless peasant movement, have their own campground at this year's World Social Forum (WSF). According to MST coordinator Cedenir Oliveira, 1,000 rural workers from places as varied as Chile, the Basque County, Honduras -- and even Palestine -- have made the trek to Porto Alegre and are now roughing it with the MST about three miles from the event's operational HQ at Gasometro, in the centre of town. Thanks largely to pressure applied by the MST, the WSF itself looks like a mammoth seaside campground. This year, rather than meeting in air-conditioned rooms, activists are gathering in tents set up along the shores of Guaiba River. "You can't seriously discuss class issues without experiencing what it's like to live without luxury or comfort," says Oliveira. "The tents make the event more honest. " And what do the MST expect to discuss -- and achieve -- at this year's WSF? "We'd like to discuss land reform in the wider context of social injustice," he says. "We want to come up with plans of action while addressing the failed, as well as successful, policies of popular governments around the world." Speaking of which, Hugo Chavez -- who has recently vowed "war against owners of large land estates" -- seems to be the new MST 'darling' these days. In fact, Chavez is so the 'daddy' that he's been invited to visit the MST Tapes settlement, about 60 miles from Porto Alegre, in the morning of his scheduled WSF appearance on Sunday. In addition to Chavez, former Lula advisor Frei Betto and Che's daughter Aleida Guevara are both scheduled to meet with the MST leadership during the event. January 27, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Nuclear LulaIt's not just the MST who are unhappy with Lula this year. Greenpeace is staging a protest at the Gigantiho stadium where Lula is speaking and Caspar (and James?) are listening. Five activists dressed as Lulinha Nuclear - Nuclear Lula - will be circling the forum to protest the Brazilian government's plan to build a new nuclear reactor in the state of Rio de Janeiro. I am dying to know what the reactions to Lula will be this morning. But I bumped into the Puerto Rican delegation yesterday, and they have twisted my arm to go to their event on "Puerto Rico: La Ultima Colonia Latinoamericana" instead. It's not always easy to be a Danish-Puerto Rican. January 27, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) Walking the walk, talking the talkWe’re all a bit sunburnt after today’s opening march. It was big. It was loud. And fun to check out people’s badges: everyone has an orange tag around their neck that says who they are and where they come from. Mine says openDemocracy. Here are a few pictures from the march (click on them to make them a little bigger):
At the march I met Lee Yong Sik, who is president of the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions. He was standing with a bunch of Korean Metalworkers. I asked him if they would ever have “a Lula” in Korea, and he predicted it would happen in 8-10 years if they worked hard. And he said he would grant me an interview when he becomes president. “I won’t forget,” he said. Good.
In case Paul Kingsnorth is reading this: after reading his article on the European Social Forum in London, all the Che Guevara t-shirts here remind me of him. And I am excited Manu Chao is playing a little concert tonight. January 26, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0) No shades of greyIt's not just the bright sunshine and Brazilian colours that mean there are no shades of grey at the forum. Much of the politics is in black and white When it comes to the Iraq war, a straw poll - and the posters and graffiti all around - speak with one voice: "farce", "imperialist ploy" and "long live the heroic iraqi resistance". No space, so far at least, for nuance or any sense that some good may come out of the Iraqi election, however tragic or compromised the circumstances. For a range of views - by no means all pro-election, but much more thoughtful - see Iraqis on openDemocracy. Similarly, the word is that Lula, the Brazilian president, may get a pretty rough ride when he comes to an early morning event tomorrow in stadium. The majority here clearly think he's gone too far in making deals with what is known here as the neo-liberal order. Before the week is out Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela, is almost sure to be greeted as man of the forum. Not too long after Lula flies off to Davos tomorrow afternoon to build a bridge to the suits, Chavez jets in to Porto Alegre to express solidarity with the T shirts of the MST (Brazil's Movement of Landless Workers). Chavez comes fresh from overseeing occupation of land in Venezuela owned by an English Lord. The man has charisma and big cojones. It's hard not to chuckle at his recent offer of a one dollar bet to George W Bush that he would be longer in office than the US president. But will Chavez outlast Lula? The countries are vastly different. Comparisons are not especially helpful. This will not, however, stop the MST capitalising on Chavez's visit. They are shaping up for a big challenge to Lula a little later this year because they see the pace of land reform in Brazil as far too slow. January 26, 2005 in World Social Forum | Permalink | | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
