Feature Archives

Over 100,000 activists from throughout the world have arrived for the start of the sixth World Social Forum (WSF), which began on January 24, 2006, in Caracas, Venezuela. Under the unifying slogan of “Another World is Possible,” participants at the WSF have gathered to build a powerful movement against neoliberalism, capitalism, and imperialism.

The WSF is organized in a decentralized format that encourages grassroots participation. This is accomplished through a series of workshops and forums that bring together political activists from throughout the world to give them the opportunity to share experiences and build social networks. Each day, during the six days of activities, there will be hundreds of forums, discussions, and meetings to choose from.

The opening event at this year’s WSF was a march with over 60,000 participants demonstrating against War and Imperialism. There were large delegations from all over South America - including Brazil, Colombia, Bolivia, Peru, Argentina, and of course Venezuela.

 Feb. 1 World Social Forum Wrap Up || Jan. 29 Photos and Report || Jan. 28 Report: Peace Collaborations Continue || Jan. 27 Photos and Report || Jan. 25 Photos and Report || Jan. 26 Audio Interview || Jan. 26 Report on Building Coalitions for Fair Trade! || An Anarchist Perspective ||  Marcha por todas nuestras luchas || Global Women flex power at World Social Forum

January 15 marked the election of Chile’s first woman President, 54 year-old Michelle Bachelet, on the ticket of a Christian Democrat-Left coalition, the Concertación. Bachelet is a socialist and a former Minister of Health and Minister of Defense in the center-left Lagos administration. During the regime of dictator Augusto Pinochet, Bachelet was imprisoned, tortured, and exiled. She is a pediatrician and a single mother of three. "I have not had an easy life," she told a cheering crowd after her victory. Bachelet is known as a supporter of the Free Trade Area of the Americas. Indymedia Santiago Chile voiced this critique of the election: "During the recent electoral struggle for control of the state, the Concertación, along with the right, only seemed to show their teeth, while the press, orchestrating the show, spoke of 'polarization' of the elections—what a fallacy! Everything could be found perfectly situated within the boundaries of the political marketplace."
Santiago Indymedia Article (In Spanish) | Election Day Coverage | Democracy Now on Election | World Socialist Website Report

Reverend Lucius Walker, Jr. will be speaking at several events in the Bay Area this week. On Monday January 9th, he will talk in San Francisco about rebuilding efforts and community empowerment from New Orleans to Havana. Rev. Walker was recently in Louisiana with the humanitarian aid caravans that Pastors for Peace organized after Hurricane Katrina. He will discuss the latest challenges to travel restrictions and the efforts to end the blockade against Cuba and work to normalize relations between the US and that country.

Other Bay Area events with Rev. Lucius Walker Jr.: (all are evening events)
He will be speaking about "Cuba and Your Constitutional Rights" in Palo Alto on Tuesday evening January 10th. On Wednesday, January 11th, Rev. Walker will be in San Jose to address "From Brooklyn to Bolivia: Another World is Possible." On Thursday, January 12th, Santa Cruz welcomes Walker with "Our War on Cuba: Trade, Travel and Baseball." On Friday, January 13th, Reverend Walker will speak at Casa Cuba in Oakland.

In a related event, ANSWER will screen "Bloqueo: Looking at the U.S. Embargo Against Cuba" and " Workers' Democracy in Cuba" at ATA in San Francisco on Thursday, January 12th. Read more about all of these events

Pastors for Peace | SF ANSWER | ANSWER Coalition website

January 1st, 2006 was the first day of the "Other Campaign." The EZLN, or Zapatista Army for National Liberation, has begun its tour of Mexico. They began in colonial San Cristóbal de las Casas, the city that was taken over on January 1, 1994 by some two thousand masked, armed, and defiant indigenous men and women, who from the balcony of city hall sent their message of war to the federal government. This began a 12-year political journey in Mexico. The first phase of the Other Campaign will conclude on June 25th, which is also the closing of official electoral campaigns for president, congress, the senate, and, in some states (including Chiapas), governors. Schedule

The Amado Avendaño Figueroa Brigade, which formed last month to provide an other kind of journalism to cover the Other Campaign, has filed its first report. Read Reports

Background from Concepción Villafuerte | Call to Create and Other Journalism | Indybay story about September meeting with civil society | Irlandesa's translations of past EZLN statements | Chiapas Indymedia | EZLN website

Socialist Evo Morales, an Aymara Indian, was elected President of Bolivia December 16 with 51% of the vote. In his campaign, Morales, 46, was highly critical of neo-liberal policies and called for the legalization of coca growing. "The fight against drug trafficking has been a pretext for the U .S. government to install military bases," Morales said. He also calls for asserting Bolivian rights over natural gas resources. Morales, who has worked for the rights of coca growers for many years, is the first indigenous person to become President of Bolivia, and won the election with the greatest mandate of any candidate since elections were restored in Bolivia 23 years ago. The party he founded, the Movement Toward Socialism (MAS), has 78 congressmen, one short of a majority in both houses of the National Congress. Morales has forged positive relations with Fidel Castro and Venezuela’s Hugo Chavez. His election is part of a trend towards left-leaning democracies that is sweeping Latin America. U.S. officials were cautious in responding to the election of Morales—on CNN Condoleezza Rice only said the U.S. would watch and wait, and dodged a question about legalization of coca in Bolivia.
Morales’ Platform on Coca | Narco News on the Election 1 | 2
New American Media Report—Coca is the Tree of the Poor
Photos of election day in Cochabamba, Bolivia by Bolivia Indymedia
Bolivian Democracy and the US: A History Lesson

The Latin America Solidarity Coalition (LASC) called for a National Venezuela Solidarity Day for Friday, December 2, 2005, the anniversary of the Monroe Doctrine. In San Francisco, there was a film screening of "Talking of Power: Sex, Race and Class in Revolutionary Venezuela" at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts. In Larkspur, there was a Venezuela Solidarity Film Festival.
Read More | Latin America Solidarity Coalition

Leaders of all the countries of the Western Hemisphere, except Cuba meet in Mar del Plata, Argentina from October 28 through November 5 for the Fourth Summit of the Americas. Talks on the resumption of negotiations on creating the US-proposed Free Trade Area of the Americas ended in a deadlock after a group of left-leaning countries, headed by Brazil and Venezuela, opposed the idea, saying it would open their countries to exploitation by large American firms and do little to alleviate poverty. Read More | WSWS | Democracy Now | Summit of the Americas Leaves Region More Polarized

A People’s Summit was organized as a counter protest and thousands gathered to hear Venezuelan President Chavez speak. Audio From Democracy Now
The participation of US President George W. Bush in the Summit of the Americas unleashed a wave of popular outrage in both Argentina and Uruguay. Thousands marched in Argentina and among those marching was Argentine soccer superstar Diego Maradona. Later in the day 1,000 rioters clashed with police, setting bonfires in the streets and destroying storefronts. Over 87 people were arrested and 5 people are missing. Two Indymedia journalists were among the 87 people who have been detained by police.

Argentina Indymedia provided independent coverage from the streets of Mar Del Plata where the FTAA (Free Trade Area of the Americas) Summit of the Americas was held. Check out San Diego Indymedia for English-language translations.

Protesters mass to confront Bush in Argentina | Bush faces mass protests, opposition to trade pact in Argentina | Bush rebuked by the hand of God | Victory in Argentina! | Wikipedia: Mar del Plata Summit of the Americas