[WSF-Discuss] Odeen Ishmael: World Social Forum urges solutions to pressing global concerns

[CACIM]

Published: Friday, February 27, 2009
Bylined to: Odeen Ishmael <embguy at cantv.net>

@ http://www.vheadline.com/readnews.asp?id=77795

Odeen Ishmael: World Social Forum urges solutions to pressing global
concerns

*VHeadline commentarist, Guyana's Ambassador to Venezuela, Dr. Odeen Ishmael
writes:* During the final week of January, the world's attention was focused
on the discussions of political and business leaders at the World Economic
Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. But as they debated issues surrounding
the global economic crisis, a much larger World Social Forum (WSF) of
social, political and environmental activists convened in Belem do Para in
northern Brazil also to consider the same issue as well as other pressing
global concerns.

*Significantly, five South American presidents -- those of Bolivia, Brazil,
Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela -- stayed away from Davos to make their
appearance at the Belem forum.*

The WSF, generally viewed as "left oriented," was established in 2001 as an
initiative to counter globalisation as well as an alternative to the Davos
forum. Since then it has drawn participation from civil society groups
worldwide.  While the two global forums have trended towards different
agendas, this year they both concentrated their attention to the financial
and economic meltdown engulfing all regions of the world. Unlike the Davos
forum, this 9th WSF involved a wider participation of activists of all
social and political hues, including those opposing the Iraq war,
third-world debt, capitalism, genetically-modified food, deforestation,
global warming, the WTO, IMF and World Bank, Israeli occupation of
Palestinian land, arms sales, poverty, discrimination and a host of other
issues.

The choice of Belem, at the mouth of the Amazon River as this year's WSF
venue was apparently deliberate. It was meant to emphasise environmental and
climate issues, as well as social concerns especially with the participation
of the poor Amerindian communities living in the Amazon Basin, the world's
largest tropical forest and freshwater reserve. Indeed, there were intense
discussions on the problems of climate change and environmental protection
including the conservation of water resources.

Although its organisers viewed this year's gathering as both a political and
organisational success, there was criticism that poor planning prevented the
more than 120,000 participants representing social movements and NGOs to
discuss at length their proposals to find solutions to the economic crisis
and other global setbacks.

Despite the organisational problems, the forum drew from the numerous
discussion groups a wide range of ideas and issued a final declaration which
urged strong mobilisation of NGOs and other civil society groups to defend
the livelihood of people across the world in the face of the critical
economic situation. The declaration urged governments to nationalise banks
and not to reduce salaries at enterprises hit by the economic downturn.
Other demands included the provision of energy and food sovereignty for the
poor; the withdrawal of foreign troops from Iraq and Afghanistan;
sovereignty and autonomy for indigenous peoples; the right to land, decent
work, education and health for all; and the democratisation of media and
knowledge.

Differing from Davos, the Belem forum mapped out a series of actions to
highlight global economic, political and environmental problems. These will
include a week of demonstrations and other activities from March 28 to April
4 to press for urgent measures to alleviate climate change. Demonstrations
are also planned during the G-20 summit of industrial and emergent economies
scheduled for April 2 in London. The organisers of the WSF also expect
Argentina and Brazil, which are G-20 members, to voice the forum's demands
at that summit for positive reforms of the IMF, the World Bank and the WTO.

And in an expression of concern over the plight of the Palestinian people,
March 30 is expected to see manifestations aimed at imposing a trade
boycott, international sanctions and de-investment policies, to force Israel
to stop military assaults against Gaza and engage in genuine peace
negotiations.

*The WSF has also planned "an agenda of acts of resistance" against the
Summit of the Americas in Trinidad and Tobago in April and the Climate
Summit in Copenhagen in December.*

Obviously, the highlight at the WSF was the participation of the "leftist"
presidents of Bolivia, Brazil, Ecuador, Paraguay and Venezuela, who
expressed varying views on how to achieve social justice and equality, but
who agreed that the current economic crisis must lead to a different global
reorganisation.

Brazil's Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva put the emphasis on protecting working
people through regulation and promoting heavy state economic investment. He
called on the United States and other rich nations "to resolve this crisis
so the poor countries can develop." But he warned against worrying signs of
protectionism, saying, "It's not fair that, now that the rich countries are
in crisis, they forget their talk about free trade." He blamed the economic
crisis on the "casino" capitalism promoted by the industrialised countries,
and said the situation could further deteriorate.  His sentiments were
echoed by his colleagues from Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Paraguay.
President Rafael Correa of Ecuador, in promoting socialism as the answer to
the economic freefall, called for "people's control of political social and
economic bodies, backed by a state committed to become a decentralised
channel for democratic participation." He was heavily critical of
institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank and accused them of also
being responsible for the current economic situation.

Touching on the climate change issue, he added: "It is very comfortable for
the First World to say, 'Take care of the Amazon, don't drill, don't extract
resources,' while they prey on its natural treasures and achieve luxurious
lifestyles while our people wallow in misery and receive nothing in return.
We have to demand co-responsibility."

Venezuela's Hugo Chavez expressed the view that the WSF must be more
pro-active "now that the centres of capitalist power seemed to be confused
and disoriented." He urged the forum's participants to "go on the offensive"
to counter free trade pacts and other US-sponsored neo-liberal economic
initiatives in Latin America and take concrete steps to create alternatives
to capitalism. In addition, he encouraged unity among Latin American and
Caribbean movements to chart an independent path toward development.

Clearly, the five South American presidents believed that it was necessary,
especially at this time, to make their presence felt at this broader global
forum in Belem where the views on the global economy and other urgent
problems of regional and global significance were being aired by grassroots
organisations. The thousands of participants there were obviously not
impressed by the Davos forum which they felt did not produce any practical
solutions to the current depressing situation.

*On the other hand, they were delighted to have in their presence the five
leaders whom they saw as being sympathetic to their interests.*

*No doubt, the WSF organisers now hope that these five leaders will carry at
least some of the forum's proposals to regional and international summits
aimed at finding tangible solutions to the current economic predicament.*

Dr. Odeen Ishmael
embguy at cantv.net

*(The writer is Guyana's ambassador to Venezuela. The views expressed are
solely those of the writer.)*

http://www.vheadline.com/ishmael
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