World Social Forum - The final balance

The previous articles described the run-up to, the opening and the proceeding of the forum. Now the final balance.

The final balance of the World Social Forum (WSF) in Belém was positive. At least according to the organizers, the mayor of Belém and the governor of the federal state of Pará. Eventually 135 thousand people participated from 142 countries, with 15 thousand participants in the encampment and 4,830 volunteers, translators, technicians and representatives of the organizers.

The governor of Pará, Ana Júlia Carepa emphasized the positive influence of the forum on the economy of the state. (I had expected that, as a socialist, she would highlight the results of this ‘human’ forum, but no, the true socialists: only money counts). She stressed that in Great Belém 40 million reais (€ 13.5 million) was spent, of which 18 million for housing, 16 million with meals and 6 million with transport. According to the governor “the choice of Belém could not be at a more opportune moment, because here in Pará we demonstrate that it is possible to construct a new development model for Pará and the Amazon. We feel one with these hundred thousand people, who believe that another world is possible and in the name of this ideal, we have built our government. In the name of this ideal, we work to transform Pará into a constitutional state.” (If you know Ana Júlia and her political results, you get weak knees listening to these words.)

But the official view is not shared by the university students, who made their appearance to the lecture-rooms on Monday after the forum. Kyone Oliveira, 18 years, of the faculty Zootecnia, says she is shocked by the state the campus is in after the forum. “They have polluted everything and then go away. I thought, that it would go this way, that’s why I have not participated. Neither my university nor the city of Belém has the infrastructure to organize a forum like this. If we as students already suffer from poor toilets, think of all those people. They improved only the roof of the lecture-room and now they say that everything is in order.”

The day after the World Social Forum 2009 ended the two campuses that hosted the event showed significant differences. While the campus of the Federal University of Pará (UFPA) was clean and quiet, on the campus of the Federal Agriculture University of the Amazon (UFRA), you could observe the mess, the stench and the dissatisfaction of the participants.

After the forum many students said they had a ........ continue reading and see more images of the event

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The heat dominates the World Social Forum in Belém

This is a translation of an impression, published by Leonardo Sakamoto on his blog about his experience with the World Social Forum in Belém. It is obvious that he was clearly present in Belém.

During the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre (in the years 2001 to 2003 and 2005) the weather was hot. But the heat in Rio Grande do Sul is nothing compared to the climate of Belém in the month of January, where the mugginess of the humid air embraces you upon arrival. The frequent rainfalls are refreshing, but sometimes even the pouring rain is unable to cool down the atmosphere. The theatre installed in the Federal Agricultural University of the Amazônia (UFRA), one of the places where the WSF is being held is the refuge for those who melted of the heat outside. The at least ten split level high-power air conditioners, are the joy of a gang, sleeping on the floor, uninterested in what’s shown on the screen. In the press centre, housed in the sport hall, the scene is repeated, a number of journalists asleep under the blessing of an air conditioner by the sound of hectically attacked keyboards by colleagues.

One of the rooms of the debates, which I attended, was jam-packed. People, standing along the wall and sitting on the floor, throwing jealous looks at those, who had fled the heat, slumbering in comfortable chairs. With few clothes on, radical groups at the entrance to the youth camp - the place where hundreds of camping tents were standing - preached that the event itself is the problem: “The Social Forum is part of a movement that would fragment the people!” The heat also causes other unusual scenes. A friend was robbed by two persons. The theft of the product: a bottle of mineral water. “Ohh, brother, give me the bottle and buy yourself another one.” Who said that water is the most precious good we have, was not mistaken.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the first time that I travel in the Amazon region - on the contrary, the region is the backyard of my origin - no exaggeration. The problem is the long distances between activities, spread across the UFRA and the Federal University of Pará, which is not easy. I am far from healthy, sleep with a slight headache caused by the heat and the thermal shock of entering and leaving buildings with air conditioning. Since ordinary cars and taxis are not admitted on the campuses, walking under the burning sun or calling a cyclist turned ‘bicycle taxi’ is the only way. Three reais (about 1 euro) for a ride. For those moving from one campus to another, not far apart, the boats are an alternative to travel via the river. By noon, it requires more than an hour to board. Standing in line under the burning sun. When I return home, I have to explain to my girlfriend how I got so sunburnt, while I was at work.

Maybe an auto bus is missing. Or a better distribution of the events. You hear frequent complaints about the (des)organization of the event, the sudden change of activities, the lack of direction signs, halls without the necessary equipment and so on. In addition, of course, the lamenting about the registration fee of BRL 30.00 (10 euros) that would have limited the participation of the poorest inhabitants of the city. The striking presence of military police and national security forces, which does not correspond with what the forum is and represents. Taxi drivers were involved in the wave of paranoia about security, alarming everybody as a broken record: “We are now in a dangerous neighbourhood … We drive through a dangerous neighbourhood … Do not forget, this is a dangerous neighbourhood … Oooolha, a dangerous neighbourhood … Fortunately we are now leaving this dangerous neighbourhood.” It looks like a city-tour! Nonsense. Dangerous are some large multinationals, which are located in this state, dismissing people to decrease the risk of falling profits.

Of course, all this does not overshadow the brilliance of an event, where you stumble on diversity, knowledge and culture. Where the reception and the hopes of people and communities from many corners of the world give you warm feelings and charges your energy. Consequently, this forum is indeed hotter than that of Porto Alegre, because it seems bigger. And despite the heat, it is worth it to stay on to the end.

source: Blog de Sakamoto

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World Social Forum - The course of an event

For those who did not know that this year Belém was the seat of the World Social Forum (WSF) the participants of the forum could easily be taken for tourists on holiday in the capital of Pará. The campus of the Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (Ufra = Federal Agriculture University of the Amazon) - one of the main centres for this event - seemed more like a vacation colony. At least until the debates started. On the campus it was quite normal to see people walking around in swimming trunks, without shirt and carrying articles, which are typical part of a Brazilian summer, such as sunglasses, hats, sunscreen, bottles with mineral water and other paraphernalia reconciling with the intense heat.

In the youth camp, where about 12 thousand youngsters were camped - the crowds grew with the arrival of the participants - but none succeeded to sleep in the tents for a long time. Already in the early hours of the morning, the sun and the heat made sure that those who were planning to sleep longer fled their tent. “At night, as it gets still and quiet and with a touch of wind and no noise. But in the morning it is unbearable,” said Oliveira Sebastião, an economist from Mato Grosso.

The access road to the World Social Forum on the campus of the UFRA was transformed into a camelódromo (a collection of stalls). The products on offer were as varied as the variety of races walking the tarmac road to the encampment. It was said that the caiapó indian Bep, divided his attention between the discussions in the Indian Tent and his stall outside. At noon there was a long row of people, interested getting painted a certain part of their body with indian designs. Each painting took BRL 5 (€ 1.70).

Caiapó Bep was in Belém since Sunday with 60 caiapó indians from the Aldeia Kokocuedan, situated on the banks of the Rio Branco in Ourilândia do Norte. The village is located 100 kilometres from the city centre. The first difference Bep noticed was the weather. “Very hot. Even poor.”

Is the weather hot and all bad for the caiapós of Kokocuendan, the food served in their hostel, installed in the public school Mário Barbosa is even worse. “Many bad things, such as meat. Indians don’t eat this. Our meal is rich,” he said, reciting the ingredients of a good meal in the village: “many sweet potatoes, macaxeira, banana and fish.” Many indian children and adults had problems with the ‘urban’ menu resulting in diarrhoea.

Despite bad weather and bad food, life at the WSF was softened for Bep and his tribe by the gaining of some money. He and three other indians reserved time for body painting. Some asked just a simple painting, but the caiapós invoiced like ‘gringos’. The paint is made with the juice of the genipapo, roasted and grated, mixed with water and charcoal. The painting stays for 7 to 15 days.

At both sides of the entrance stalls with handicrafts, art crafts, typical regional meals, snacks and other types of objects were erected. A colourful fair.

On the campuses of the universities, you could see it all - or almost all. In the tents, ....... read the full story and see more images of the event.

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Latin America celebrated the collapse of neo-liberalism

Latin American Presidents with a left-wing signature participating in the World Social Forum 2009 in Belém, celebrated the collapse of neo-liberalism.

Characterized as the block of the real left-wing Latin American social movements, Presidents Hugo Chávez (Venezuela), Evo Morales (Bolivia), Rafael Correa (Ecuador) and Fernando Lugo (Paraguay) celebrated the collapse of neo-liberalism in ‘Davos’, a reference to the meeting running at the same time as the Social Forum, and collecting the crème de la crème of capitalism in the Swiss Alps. The assembled Latin American presidents gave a clear message to the participants of the World Social Forum (WSF), that was held in Belém from January 27 to Feb. 1: "We need to unite Latin America to cope with the economic crisis", they claimed, while they also called on the ‘left’ world to support their governments.

The Presidents took part in a debate organized by the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST = Movement of landless farmers) and the umbrella organization of small farmers, Via Campesina. President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva of Brazil was not invited to this meeting.

In the debate with the MST, Rafael Correa set the tone at an early stage, when he said that "neo-liberalism is a perverse system that now crumbles." The Ecuadorian president also said that the Social Forum is part of the solution the world needs and proposed enthusiastically: "The WSF is part of the solution to the crisis. Hopefully, the alternative emerges now from this Forum in Latin America.”

Hugo Chavez argued that the Forum has to leave the trenches of the fight and launch the attack. "The WSF must change its strategy because we are in the phase of attacks and no longer in the period of trench warfare."

During the debate, called "Prospects for the Integration of Latin America”, the Presidents launched numerous attacks on the "North American imperialism.” Chavez proposed an international trial of the former U.S. president George W. Bush for his alleged crimes against humanity. In the same debate, the freedom fighter Che Guevara was honoured. His daughter was present during the session.

With the new American president Chavez was cautious: "We are still waiting for the performance of the new American government, which faces itself a very serious problem within its borders: the economic crisis." But he stated that he was not blinded by the promised changes: "The empire is still intact and the president [Obama] has said that Chavez is an obstacle."

Fernando Lugo, Paraguay’s last year elected President, new in this ‘left’ presidential bloc, welcomed the participation of farmers and indigenous movements as agents of change in the WSF: "Thanks to the social movements in Latin America, we experience a time of change."

Evo Morales expressed his solidarity with the landless and indigenous people and admitted that he can make mistakes, but promised never to abandon “the struggle against North American imperialism."

The Brazilian Minister of Agrarian Development, Guilherme Cassel, said that the MST made a serious “political mistake” by refusing, Lula to taking part in the debate with the Latin American presidents. And concluded with the words: "He, who takes part in a WSF debate is open to dialogue and criticism."
It is clear that the MST is very dissatisfied with the agrarian reforms (or lack there of) during the reign of the Lula administration. And it is also clear that what Cassel said is a farce, because Lula has never been able to handle criticism in a positive way.

Lula will participate in some activities during the last days of the WSF, but none of the MST and Via Campesina, the international organization to which the MST is connected.

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The World Social Forum - Preparation and Opening

The event was outlaid so ambitiously that it had to go completely wrong. The organizers had clearly forgotten that they had to do with the Federal State of Pará with its public administrators and political leaders, who are still unable to look up the word 'organization' in the dictionary, let alone find the word.
During the six-day forum (from Jan 27 to Feb. 1), 2400 activities were scheduled, which means that some 200 activities were held simultaneously about topics such as the environment, global warming, poverty, child- and slave labour, exclusion of poor countries, and of course, the destruction of the Amazônia region and alternatives to the capitalist system, which threw the world in an economic and financial crisis (I am sure, that Davos is anxious to have a look at the proposals). But the farmer, he ploughed on, so if everything raised by somebody should be found important, then it might come to something ... ever.

The World Social Forum (WSF) is regarded as the largest marketplace on the planet of ideas, with discussions for everyone.
But a month before the international event, the city was still looking for solutions to its problems. Lack of security, traffic chaos and deficiencies in public transport are some of the most serious problems of Belém. And for years it is no different. On top of all this the complaints of the population of the capital of Pará itself.

During the forum, the hotels and pousadas in town were fully booked - even the motels, normally operating as centres for lovers and other sex activities, had their faces adapted to accommodate participants of the event. Another 15 thousand houses were rented, the rent up to BRL 2 thousand (€ 660) for the 5 days of the forum. The hotels did not stay behind and reached the, for Belém, exorbitant price of BRL 900 (€ 300) per day, including breakfast, lunch and dinner.

To house the event and guarantee the safety of the participants the state government invested BRL 143 million (€ 48.5 million), with a third for the purchase of police cars. Ten field hospitals were built on the campus of the Universidade Federal do Pará (UFPA = Federal University of Pará) and the Universidade Federal Rural da Amazônia (UFRA = Federal Agriculture University of the Amazon), where also an encampment for 30 thousand young visitors was raised. An additional 270 hospital beds were reserved in the public and private hospitals for emergency situations.

During the days of the event about 600 thousand male condoms from the Program for the prevention of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) and AIDS were distributed. (nb, 1 condom per day per participant)

Until Sunday, February 1 (the last day), the organization of the Forum hopes to greet 120 thousand people from 150 countries, including ......... continue reading and see more images

Tell me: What actually is the World Social Forum?

On Tuesday, January 27, 2009 the 9th edition of the World Social Forum opened in Belém, the capital of Pará, with an estimated 60 thousand people from around the country and 30 thousand foreigners participating. For the city of Belém an unprecedented large-scale event that would rule the entire city for 6 days.

However, a survey conducted by the media-group ORM Portal showed that the event is unknown by the Paraense (resident of the federal state of Pará).

Derived from the Latin word 'foro', forums were in ancient Rome places of public meetings where Roman citizens could speak out about urban problems. But only the patricians, who owned great estates and consequently political rights, were regarded as citizens. Participation was thus limited by social conditions. Centuries later, when the freedom of expression was established in the constitution, the absence of knowledge and information marks the opinion of those who live in the vicinity of the world’s main discussion forum on contemporary problems: the World Social Forum 2009.

But what is it? An event, a protest, a demonstration? A survey last week organized at the site of Portal ORM (http://www.orm.com.br/) showed that 50.4% of the 345 people who voted did not know what the World Social Forum is or what it serves. A worrying result particularly since it concerned a news site, which is usually visited by people looking for information and generally are well informed. Of the people who said they knew the event, slightly more than half said that they would participate in the activities.

The results in the street are similar to the virtual vote. People who live in the bordering area where the forum is held, the two federal universities, noticed changes and additional traffic, but are unfamiliar with the themes, goals and personalities, who were present this week in Belém. Some people saw the results of the preparations for the event in practice and observed the large and conspicuous presence of police and security forces. "I know that many people are coming, but do not know why. I think they will talk about street violence. What I do know is that things have improved here, never ever there was so many police in Terra Firme" says Maria Sales, who lives in the vicinity of the Federal Agriculture University of the Amazônia (UFRA).

If one of the main objectives of the Forum is, promoting the debate between young people, then the propaganda has not worked effectively for the youth in Pará, in particular those from the interior.
But there are also people who know nothing and ........... continue reading

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