World Social Forum VI

January 24-29, 2006, Caracas, Venezuela

 

 

Report

Roseann Cohen

 

Introduction

As a representative of Three Americas, Inc., I traveled to the sixth World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela, from January 24-29, 2006. My goal was to distribute the recently produced DVD “A Silent Forest: The Growing Threat”, as well as develop contacts with organizations working toward similar goals. This report provides an overview of my experience navigating the World Social Forum, a description of new contacts, and touches on some of the debates emerging from the Forum. This report also contains 3 appendices that include materials provided by organizations, printed media covering the World Social Forum, and a CD with photographs and interviews. 

 

Navigating the World Social Forum “Territory”

The morning after arriving to Caracas, I headed to the Hilton Hotel in order to pick up the materials Yolanda Provoste-Fuentes brought from Santa Cruz and to register for the Forum. The Hilton turned out to be the Forum’s most central location. The Hilton Hotel and the Teatro Carreño (across the street from the Hilton) were buzzing with people. World Social Forum participants, delegates, press and volunteers created a mass of people waiting in lines to register for the forum, buying handicrafts and Chavez souvenirs from street vendors, listening to street musicians and trying to find their way to the youth camp. The scene included plenty of youth and elderly, and folks dressed in all sorts of fashions including t-shirts printed with organization names or political statements. It was a colorful scene and I felt the best place to feel the energy of the Forum. After receiving my Forum program, I scanned it marking all of the events that caught my attention. It was exciting to see the amount of planned events as well as diversity of organizations with planned activities.

My excitement in relation to the various panels I had selected to attend quickly turned into frustration. Unfortunately, the majority of the panels I had planned on attending didn’t take place. After three successive days of moving throughout the city by metro looking for specific panels at the various World Social Forum locations (9 in total), I decided to stop following the program. I found that by sticking to the most central locations of the Forum—Hilton Hotel and Parque Vargas—I was most likely to find panels that were occurring and being attended. This meant, that rather than use the program as a guide, I would walk around to see which panels were actually occurring and sit-in on the ones that most interested me. I was able to sit-in on some excellent panels that brought forth very interesting issues and debates. However, this left me with the feeling that the best way to navigate the Forum was by limiting myself to a few locations and attending panels planned by large-scale organizations such as CLASCO (Consejo Latinoamericano de Ciencias Sociales) or Vía Campesina. The difficulty I felt in accessing events planned my small organizations seemed contrary to the spirit of the forum which intends to provide a space for creating global articulations among local struggles.

I think this mainly occurred due to the decentralization of the World Social Forum’s events. The “territory” of the World Social Forum was dispersed among 9 locations, mostly along the metro line. When I asked a volunteer as to the logic behind this organization, she explained that the intention was to provide Venezuelans living in different parts of Caracas with easy access to the World Social Forum. While it may be argued that the World Social Forum should take place in all kinds of neighborhoods, the end result of this strategy was to reduce access to the Forum for registered participants, both foreigners and Venezuelans. For example, the structure of the Forum required participants to leave a panel session at the Hilton Hotel, take the metro for 6 stops, and then walk 8 blocks to La Carlota military airbase. At La Carlota, participants found about 20 tents set up for panels (surrounded by unused available space) with about 2-3 of the panels occurring. After waiting around for panelists that never arrived, and then traveling to another location, an entire panel session had been missed. Rain, transportation difficulties, uninformed volunteers, program misprints and no-show panelists worked to make the more peripheral sites of the Forum relatively empty of activities and participants. While not all of these factors are under the control of the Forum organizers, the decentralization of Forum activities exacerbated the situation. Rather than being able to move by foot between several active panels, organizations tabling and organization tents, as well as enjoy the buzz of the crowd, the Forum structure managed to disperse participants and decrease attendance at panels assigned to peripheral locations.  

Another concern, related to the “territory” of the World Social Forum, is the contradictions reflected by the choice of holding part of the Forum at a military airbase. The World Social Forum “territory” does not only refer to a series of locations where its activities take place, but also includes the social relations and encounters that occur in that space. The World Social Forum “territory” is a place where participants are committed to putting the Forum principles into practice. For instance, this includes interacting in a “territory” free of sexism, racism and homophobia. It seemed odd to me that the organizers would include a military airbase as part of the World Social Forum territory considering that demilitarization was one of the Forum’s main themes. It also seemed problematic to me that part of Avenida Bolivar, the main road running through the most central area of Forum activities, had been closed down and dedicated to a showcase of Chavez’ programs. Again, this represents a conflict with World Social Forum principles which do not allow that the state or political parties use the Forum as a site for furthering their political projects.

 

Contacts and Conversations

            Although the lack of organization experienced at the Forum was a challenge, I still felt that I was able to take advantage of informal spaces, which are often the most interesting, for making contacts. The moments when panels didn’t occur provided a space to chat with the other folks that came looking for the same panel and even carry out interviews.

            Throughout the course of the Forum, I had the opportunity to discuss Three Americas’ history of working toward social, environmental and economic justice with World Social Forum participants. I distributed “A Silent Forest” to individuals as well as representatives of a variety of organizations. Individuals were usually university students, which had come to the Forum on their own, yet were motivated to learn about and get involved with social and political struggles. Due to my own interests, I discussed Three Americas with many Colombians. I hope the gathered information and contacts will be useful to Three Americas in developing its growing interest in Colombia.

Overall, everyone I spoke to was very receptive about the work that Three Americas is doing. Many were happy to hear that organizations like Three Americas provide people in the U.S. with an alternative source of information about the realities communities face in Latin America and their efforts to struggle for change. The smaller, community-based organizations stressed the importance of international support, both in terms of solidarity and financial resources, as critical for the survival of community organizations in Latin America.

I felt that distributing “A Silent Forest” was a great way to provide folks with a concrete reminder of our conversation about the convergences between their organizations and Three Americas.  Furthermore, it was received with a lot of interest, as well as appreciation. I also received DVDs or printed materials in exchange from several organizations (see Appendix 1). However, in the future, I would suggest that Three Americas also include a one-page summary of the organization’s programs with the DVD.  I made a lot of effort to clarify that Three Americas is not only concerned with the threat of GMOs but rather supports social change through a diversity of projects. A one-page overview would also emphasize that the contact is Three Americas as several organizations are listed on the DVD. I partly resolved this by printing Three Americas web page and contact information in large letters on the white border of the DVD flier. Finally, many people to whom I distributed the DVD did not speak English. However, most stated that another member of their organization spoke English or that they could use a translator program to get past the language barrier.

            Below is a list of the individuals and organizations with whom I had the opportunity to discuss in more detail Three Americas’ interests in building alliances with community organizations throughout the Americas:

 

Name	Organization	Country	Contact Info	Brief Description
Daniela Jaschek	Instituto de Desarollo Social y Promoción Humana (INDES)	Argentina	danielajaschek@amet.com.ar, indes@amet.com.ar	Works toward social development with 2,500 rural farm families associated in grassroots organizations.
Roberto Pianelli	Cuerpo de Delegados de Metrovías	Argentina	www.metrodelegados.com.ar	Union fighting for metro workers’ rights in Argentina.
María Clara Suarez	Action Aid—Regional Office for the Americas	Brazil	suporte@actionaid.org.br	Fights poverty worldwide by working toward food sovereignty, women’s rights, democratic governance, rights of people living with AIDS and rights of people living in conflict situations. Directly concerned with GMOs in their food sovereignty programs.
Jimmy Viera	Consultor Social	Colombia	blackmatrya@hotmail.com, blackmatria@yahoo.com	Works with displaced Afro-Colombian communities settled in the south of Cali, Valle del Cauca, in order to develop public policies that truly address these communities’ needs.
	Asociación de Trabajadores de la Salud y Seguridad Social de Colombia (ANTHOC) & El Movimiento Nacional por la Salud	Colombia	campamentohumanitario@yahoo.es	Health workers’ union and the national health movement in Colombia have come together to hold a humanitarian gathering in Bogotá this April to call attention to the idea that genocide is taking place in Colombia due to the inequalities generated by neoliberal policies. Both organizations work for health as a human right and have been threatened and disappeared (especially ANTHOC) for resisting the privatization of health care.
Ramon Emilio Perea Lemos		Colombia	afrocolombiano2000@yahoo.com	Youth organization that works with displaced and migrant Afro-Colombian youth arriving to the capital cities of Quibdo, Chocó, and Medellín, Antioquía.
	Territorio Sur	Colombia	redterritoriosur@yahoo.com, www.territoriosur.galeon.com	Environmental organization working toward the conservation, use and management of natural resources. Currently they are working with youth at-risk of socio-environmental conflicts to promote the sustainable development of Río Tunjuelito in the rural area of Bogotá.
Jairo Grajales	Corporación Jurídica Libertad	Colombia	corpora@epm.net.co	Works with farmers on rights to appropriate health care.
Victoria Agudelo	Universidad de Antioquia	Colombia	estudiantes_antioquia@yahoo.es	Student group at the Universidad de Antioquia in Medellín concerned with human rights in Colombia. Circulate alternative information regarding human rights violations via email to students, organizations and interested individuals.
Hilda Coronado	Secretariado Internacional Justicia, Paz e Integridad de la Creación—Hermanitas de la Asunción	Colombia	hilcocu@hotmail.com, hilcocu26@gmail.com	Works in San Jose de Cali toward food solidarity (solidaridad alimentaria) with children and pregnant women.
Gerardo Calderón Velandia	Movimiento Cristianos para la Vida	Colombia	gerardocv@telecom.com.co	Involved in community struggle against multinational corporations interested in raising 5 million chickens to export chicken breast. These projects threaten to contaminate a water source that 100,000 people depend on in San Jil, Santander.
Aldenso Tobeda	Aura Ambiental Fusunga	Colombia		Environmental organization working toward the protection of Bogotá’s rural areas.
Adriano de Jesús Quintero Ruíz	Movimiento Cristianos por la Paz—Comunidades Cristianos por los Campesinos	Colombia	amevale2002@yahoo.com	Works toward rural development with farmers in Colombia.
Luís Carlos Rodríguez de la Cruz	Universidad Javeriana	Colombia		Political science student that attended the forum with a group of students interested in learning about social struggles throughout the Americas.
Liliana Tabudio	Pastoral Social—Cáritas Colombiana	Colombia	www.pastoralsocialcolombia.org	Works at local, national and international levels to promote a negotiated resolution to the conflict in Colombia through dialogue.
Ana	Movimiento Cristianos para la Paz	Colombia		Supports grassroots efforts by Catholic communities. She, in particular, provides accompaniment to organizations of forcibly displaced people in Bogotá.
María	Lo Va Contar el Pueblo	Colombia		Community organization that provides meals for children, temporary shelter for forcibly displaced families, and is currently planning a capacity-building program for 80 women.
Omesia Sandoval Calvo	Diócesis de Tibú—Pastoral Social	Colombia		Works with displaced and vulnerable families in Catatumbo through several programs such as food security, socio-political formation, organic agriculture and education.
Diógenes Lucio	Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas, Indígenas y Negras (FENOCIN) & Via Campesina	Ecuador	fenocin@fenocin.org, www.fenocin.org	Works toward food sovereignty throughout Ecuador. Their objective is to rescue farmer knowledge and empower farmers to be the protagonists of knowledge production and technology transfer. They are also working toward regional marketing of farmers’ produce.
Mehmet Balci	Geneva Call	France	mbalci@genevacall.org, www.genevacall.org	Dialogues directly with Colombian armed groups to raise consciousness about landmines in an effort to develop alternative agreements with armed groups regarding the deactivation of planted mines and a cease in further planting of landmines.
Ulrich Brand	German Group on Biopiracy	Germany	www.biopiraterie.de	Works to stop the threat of biopiracy, patents and terminator technology.
Verona Wunderlich	Rosa Luxemburg Foundation	Germany	www.rosalux.de	Affiliated with the Party of Democratic Socialism in Germany, their participation in this year’s WSF centered on their support for demilitarization in the Americas. They recently supported a study by the Observatorio Latinoamericano de Geopolitica (www.geopolitica.ws) in Paraguay regarding the role of the United States in the militarization of the Southern Cone.
Lizardo (Venezuela) & Christian Guerrero (USA)	Foro Social Alternativo	Americas and Europe	www.fsa.contrapoder.org.ve	Representatives from several anarchist organizations from the Americas and Europe came together to produce an event parallel to and in critique of the official World Social Forum. The main Venezuelan organization involved is the Comisión de Relaciones Anarchistas (CRA). Their critique mainly stems from the Venezuelan government’s role in financing the World Social Forum in Caracas.
Juan Mendoza	Confederación Campesina del Perú—Campaña Nacional	Peru	coord_qoka@yahoo.es, ccp@chavin.rcp.net.pe	Works toward promoting a Peru that consumes the products produced by its own farmers.
	International Association for Volunteer Effort-Taiwan (IAVE) & Wetlands Taiwan	Taiwan	www.iavetaiwn.org, iavetaiwan@xuite.net, www.wetland.org.tw	IAVE is an international volunteer organization that supports Wetlands Taiwan’s effort to restore wildlife to an urban wetland.
Leonel Rodriguez	Bolivar y Sucre Junin Ayacucho, Universidad Bolivariana	Venezuela	LDRG1@latinmail.com	Student organization concerned with social and political issues.

 

Conclusions and Food for Thought

There were two main aspects about the World Social Forum that made it an incredibly interesting experience for me. First, I had the opportunity to watch the World Social Forum in action, and second, to watch the World Social Forum in action in Chavez’ Venezuela. This is a key moment as the world watches a new anti-neoliberal Left emerging and holding positions of power in Latin America. The World Social Forum in Caracas not only provided an opportunity for many curious forum participants to see Chavez’ politics at work, but also to dialogue about whether Venezuela’s approach to revolution is truly building another possible world. In part, I would argue that it does, in the sense that Venezuela provides a space for dissent and another way of global integration in the face of US imperialism and neoliberal globalization. The construction of spaces for a plurality of viewpoints and actors, in a world that at times seems to naturalize one mode of thinking, coincides directly with the principles of the World Social Forum. Yet, on the other hand, Chavez’ approach to creating a space for dissent left me with a lot of questions about power and the state.

Before the World Social Forum had even started, there was a general critique that the Forum’s autonomy had been compromised by accepting funding from the Venezuelan government. These concerns were most directly expressed by an international group of anarchists that organized a parallel event, the Alternative Social Forum, with the intention of drawing attention to issues which they felt may otherwise be silenced—mainly a critical perspective on Venezuela’s military government and unsustainable financing of the revolutionary process through the exploitation of oil and coal. Although not always part of the Forum’s formal spaces, critical perspectives did emerge. In addition to the Alternative Social Forum, indigenous groups from the Sierra de Perijá organized a march to protest the Venezuelan government’s intention to increase the production of coal which threatens their livelihoods and waterways. Chavez’s problematic relationship with indigenous communities was also echoed during some panels I attended organized by the Colectivo Des/colonialidad del Poder. These panels discussed resistance strategies used by indigenous groups in relation to the power of a leftist state. They brought up the question as to the implications of a revolution from above rather than below. During a televised exchange between Chavez and the leaders of several social movements (held at Fort Triuna, the main military enclave in Caracas), Chavez responded to questions regarding the possibility of a revolution that does not intend to take power. Although he encouraged Forum participants to continue this discussion, Chavez listed examples of his many achievements, which he felt could only be carried out through state power.

Overall, I feel that the World Social Forum successfully provides an important meeting point for a plurality of viewpoints and actors, including the articulations and encounters between local struggles that take place outside of its formal spaces. In terms of the Bolivarian Revolution, I was left with a huge desire to learn more about the revolutionary process in Venezuela. I find myself returning from the World Social forum hopefully watching an inspiring realignment of power taking place in Latin America, yet struggling with many questions regarding the possibilities for social change not confined to the power of a modern state.

 

 

 

 

Appendix 1. Materials provided by organizations

 

Organization booklet; Instituto de Desarollo Social y Promoción Humana (INDES)

 

Periodical and DVD “Por Una Jornada de 6 Horas”; Cuerpo de Delegados de Metrovías

 

Event pamphlet for Campamento Humanitario; Asociación de Trabajadores de la Salud y Seguridad Social de Colombia (ANTHOC) & El Movimiento Nacional por la Salud

 

Postcard; Territorio Sur

 

Pamphlet for the Day of Non-Violence Against Women & Oration for peace in Colombia, Pastoral Social—Cáritas Colombiana

 

DVD “Agricultura Ancestral Dinamizada”; Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas, Indígenas y Negras (FENOCIN)

 

Flier for 1^st screening of independent documentaries and video activism and periodical “El Libertad” published by Comisión de Relaciones Anarchistas (CRA); Foro Social Alternativo

 

Organizational booklet and postcards; International Association for Volunteer Effort-Taiwan (IAVE) & Wetlands Taiwan

 

 

Appendix 2: Printed media

 

I collected several publications covering the World Social Forum:

 

“An X-Ray of Participation in the 2005 Forum: Elements for Debate”, DVD published by Petrobras for the World Social Forum.

 

“El Querrequerre”—the communication paper of the world youth camp

 

“Terraviva”—independent diary of the World Social Forum VI

 

“Fuerza”—Bolivarian newspaper

 

“The Daily Journal”—Anti-Chavista newspaper

 

“El Nacional”—Anti-Chavista newspaper

 

Appendix 3: CD with interviews and photos

 

This CD includes photographs taken at the World Social Forum as well as 7 interviews.

 

The following 5 interviews with participants and speakers at the World Social Forum focus on the interviewees’ reasons for attending the World Social Forum and their perspectives on the role of transnational organizing. The interviews are brief and mainly have the intention of bringing voices from the World Social Forum to interested ears at Three Americas.

 

Interview 1_Colombian Student [2:50 min, Spanish] 26 January 2006, 11:15am

Luís Carlos Rodríguez de la Cruz, political science student, Universidad Javeriana,

 Bogotá, Colombia

 

Interview 2_FENOCIN Ecuador [2:32 min, Spanish] 27 January 2006, 9:38am

Diógenes Lucio, Confederación Nacional de Organizaciones Campesinas, Indígenas y Negras (FENOCIN) & Vía Campesina, Ecuador

 

Interview 3_Caritas Colombiana  [2:55 min, Spanish] 27 January 2006,10:17am

            Liliana Tabudio, Pastoral Social—Cáritas Colombiana, Colombia

 

Interview 4_Work with displaced people [6:09 min, Spanish] 28 January 2006, 8:47am

            Ana, Movimiento Cristianos para la Paz, Colombia

            María, Lo Va Contar el Pueblo, Colombia

            Omesia Sandoval Calvo, Diócesis de Tibú—Pastoral Social, Colombia

           

Interview 5_Action Aid Brazil [5:01min, Spanish] 28 January 2006, 11:15am

            María Clara Suarez, Action Aid, Brazil

 

 

The following interview explains who the organizers are behind the Alternative Social Forum, and its intention of producing a non-Chavez sanctioned space to discuss issues such as anti-militarization and energy concessions.

 

Interview 6_Foro Social Alternativo [12:08 min, Spanish & English] 26 January 2006, 12:13pm

            Lizardo (Venezuela) & Christian Guerrero (USA), Foro Social Alternativo

           

 

The following interview is a group interview of several Colombians that occurred spontaneously to replace a panel session about the armed conflict in Colombia. About 20 Venezuelan social communication university students came to the panel session with the intention of interviewing the panelists. However, the panelists didn’t show up. Instead, the students asked several Colombians that had arrived to listen to the panel session if they could interview them about everyday life in Colombia. I took the opportunity to record this interview. Over the next 45 minutes, a group of Colombians share their thoughts on the origins and evolution of the conflict, Alvaro Uribe’s political project, media coverage of the conflict, strategies of resistance and their personal experiences as Colombians living in a country at war.

 

 

Interview 7_Colombian conflict [45:37 min, Spanish] 26 January 2006, 8:30am

The following is a partial list of the Colombians interviewed. I was not able to get a good record of the interviewees as some left before the entire interview had finished:

Rodrigo Agudelo

Jairo Grajales, Corporación Jurídica Libertad

Iquito, Centro de Investigación para la Educación Rural (CIER)

Victoria Agudelo, Universidad de Antioquia

Marco Cardona, union member

Gerardo Calderón Velandia, Movimiento Cristianos para la Vida

Ustorio Valdez, Derechos Humanos para la CUT, Nariño