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This I recieved in my inbox from a buddy who works for a sort of "stop human cloning" organization:
Hi everyone,
Some of you know, and some not, that we (Kathalijn and
I) are in Brazil for the World Social Forum. That is
done, and we are now in the beach town of Torres taking
a few days of rest and relaxation. It is warm, sunny,
sandy, and inexpensive. All is great, and we fly back
Saturday.
Briefly about the WSF: It is an annual global gathering
of activists and others opposed to a world of corporate
power, exploitation, and imperialism, and calling for a
more positive world. It is not just criticism, there
are genuine proposals here. It is something of a
counter-forum tothe World Economic Forum in Davos, SW.
I came with my job, and we gave 3 workshops. This kept
us surprisingly busy, as everything here seems to take
twice as long as planned. But they went very well, with
good attendance and questions. We are delivering our
message to a global audience. (see
www.genetics-and-society.org)
On the second day, we saw and heard the new president of Brazil speak.
Brazil has a history of bad presidents, and after a series of changes in
voting laws, appears to have elected its first president of the people.
Lula comes from a poor, working class background, and has ran 3 times
before. He spoke at the first 2 WSF's. But this time, his talk was not
part of the official WSF, which has a no-politicians rule. We could not
understand what he said, but the enthusiasm for him at this talk and
throughout the WSF was astounding. Everywhere people were wearing the
clothing and pins of Lula and his party, PT (worker's party) (which
helped organize the WSF). During his speech, and when Arundhati Roy
spoke of progress as "look who was president in Brazil a year ago, and
now," the crowd erupted in the Lula campaign song and chanting. It
certainly felt like a historic moment. But then Lula had to fly off to
speak to the 'people that matter' (ha ha) at the World Economic Forum,
Davos, Switzerland. He is clearly trying to walk a fine line.
On the last day, we were able to attend the climax
of the forum. When we got to the crowded and hot indoor
arena (10,000 or so of the 100,000 at the WSF), we
witnessed a moving presentation, in which activists
from Israel and Palestine read a joint statement
outlining an agreement and a path towards peace in
their homelands. There was cheering, hugging, Lennon's 'Imagine,' tears,
etc etc.
Then was a statment from two Bolivians. The leader (Evo
Morales) of a movement against corporate take-over (By
Bechtel of San Francisco) of their public water supply
was unable to get out of Bolivia due to blockades, etc.
We did not get our translating headphones, but I
understood the general idea - that the resources of the
people should remain the property of the people.
The final two talks were on 'Confronting the Empire.'
First of these was Noam Chomsky, an American professor
at MIT who is perhaps the most highly-regarded and
well-known American critic of America (he is viewed
close to a celebrity here), and for providing scathing
(biting) analysis of US foreign policy and its use of propaganda to
maintain support at home for a conservative and neo-imperialist agenda.
As usual, his talk was full or more facts and covered more territory
than one could imagine in such a short time. His knowledge of details,
painful sarcasm, and dry humor and delivery was able to turn over the
assumed view of America (at least by Americans) in one hour. For
example, he noted that fear of Saddam Hussein exists nowehre in the
world except the US - and that includes Kuwait! It is clear that Bush
and his posse are desparate for this war, and are using the full
propaganda apparatus to try to obtain public support.
The last speaker was Arundhati Roy - another
'celebrity' at WSF. She is a young, eloquent and poetic
author of fiction and political essays from India.
Unlike Chomsky, it is not her density of facts but the
beauty of her words and analysis. Her talk hit the nail
on the head, as to why the present world is wrong for
most people, why another world is possible, and how we
are successfully moving in that direction. Like
Chomsky, she noted that the American peopl are
increasing critical of the role of their country in the
world. When she said that 'It won't be long before the
majority of American people become our allies,' and
that hundereds of thousands of Americans have been
protesting a war even before it has started, she
received much cheering. Her full speech is at this
address. I recommend it fully.
http://www.zmag.org/content/print_article.cfm?itemID=2919§ionID=51
Then, tens of thousands of people from throughout the
world marched to downtown to oppose the war and FTAA
(an expansion of NAFTA to all the Americas - largely
against the interests of the Latin American people). It
was amazing to see so many different flags, and styles
of protest. Drummers from Sweden next to chanting
dancers from Argentina! We had converstaions with many
people from many countries. They were all inspired, and
many surprised, to hear of the growing movement inside
the US against corporate power and the aggression of
its leaders. It is clear that most of the world views
Bush's leadership as the greatest threat to global
peace and security.
Finally, we went off to a dinner hosted by Z Magazine,
a key institution in this movement. It was something of
an 'insiders' event, for speakers in their series of
talks. Fortunately, my colleage Marcy was in the
series, and I went as her substitute, and Lijn as my
guest. :-) (OK, and I have had an article in Z) We met
some great people there (including one from a little
town near my home town in Indiana!). And sitting behind
us, was a table of Noam Chomsky, A. Roy, Tom Hayden,
Naomi Klein, the two folks from Z, and Walden Bello -
the 'biggest' names in the movement. Imagine dinner
with your favorite movie stars....
This has been an unforgettable, postive, and inspiring
event, that we will remember forever. Next year the WSF
will be in India, and perhaps we will too!
Roy closed with "Another world is not only possible,
she is on her way. On a quiet day, if you listen
carefully, you can hear her breathing."
This was the official daily newspaper at the forum.
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