Foro Digest: World Social Forum Ripe with Hope

by New America Media (reposted)

Tue, Jan 24, 2006 5:15PM

NAM contributor Roberto Lovato is attending the World Social Forum in Caracas, where more than 60,000 people, half of them from outside Venezuela, have gathered for the annual event. His impressions will be posted throughout the week.

CARACAS, Venezuela -- Josefina Lema is the first member of Ecuador’s indigenous Utabalo people I’ve ever met. The rowdy lobby of the Caracas Hilton, with radical political protests barricading down the streets outside, is not the place I expect to encounter her. But here she is.

I listen intently to the five-foot tall Indian woman in the colorful skirt as she describes why she came to the 6th annual World Social Forum here in Caracas, which began today.

“I’m here to share experiences, strategies and ideas about how to preserve our seeds and traditional medicines,” says the leader of Yachac Mama, an organization dedicated to preserving and promoting “the knowledge of the Indian people.”

More
http://news.newamericamedia.org/news/view_article.html?article_id=8186833685553bbfcc643a15a2e47f56

§United against the States!

by ALJ

Tue, Jan 24, 2006 5:17PM

Tens of thousands of international activists have gathered in Caracas for the World Social Forum, protesting against US imperialism and debating topics from fair trade to indigenous rights.

Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president, has become a regional standard bearer for anti-US movements because of his vocal criticism of the right-wing Bush regime.

The sixth world forum, an event that began in Porto Alegre in Brazil, has registered more than 67,000 participants and starts on Tuesday with a march against imperialism and war that will probably focus on George Bush, the US president, and his war in Iraq.

Lucy Martinez, a Colombian who belongs to a solidarity group with Cuba, said: "This is a process that can bring change for everyone. It's great that it is here in Venezuela because Chavez, like Fidel Castro [the Cuban president], is an example for everyone."

Novelty T-shirts

Ecuadorean Indians in traditional shawls sat among piles of luggage while Brazilian students checked out street stalls offering Che Guevara T-shirts and bracelets, watches and posters printed with Chavez's image.

Lines of participants waiting to register snaked inside the Teresa Carreno Theatre complex and officials set up a campsite in a public park.

More
http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/E22AB168-5BAB-4156-AE76-2317B8E720BE.htm

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