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WORLD
SOCIAL FORUM
President Hugo Chávez
invited by Lula
BY
ORLANDO ORAMAS LEON —Granma daily special
correspondent—
PORTO ALEGRE.—
The 3rd World Social Forum opens its doors this Thursday,
although during the pre-sessions solidarity with Venezuela has
advanced throughout the capital of Río Grande do Sul, whose
state government announced that Hugo Chávez is to attend the
event at the invitation of Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, his
Brazilian counterpart.
The announcement
of Chávez’ presence coincides with a mass demonstration on
Saturday outside the state Legislative Assembly.
DEBATE ON VENUE
On Wednesday the
international organizing committee announced that the next
year’s forum is to be held in an Indian city, returning to
Brazil in 2005, but not necessarily at the same time as the
World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos, like the
three previous editions.
The decision,
made for economic reasons and as a way of increasing Asian and
African participation in the movement, was against the will of
many delegations from Latin America and other regions and
could put the very existence of the forum in its original form
at risk.
Governor Germano
Rigotto defended the fourth edition remaining in Porto Alegre,
and emphasized that the mayor’s office had full state
support for keeping the encounter in this southern capital.
On the thorny
issue of the future venue of the World Social Forum, many
participants, particularly the members of the Cuban
delegation, reiterated that it must be maintained in Latin
America and specifically in Brazil. In that context they
affirmed changing the venue is an error that should be
rectified and that they are willing to debate the matter to
the end.
It is the
general opinion that Latin American participation would be put
at risk, as the overwhelming majority of Latin Americans
attending these events would not be able to do so at the
proposed new venue, and what is worse, it would be impossible
to achieve mass participation of representatives from Latin
America and the Caribbean.
FASCISM AGAINST
VENEZUELA
Room 309 of the
Usina do Gasómetro, an old gas plant converted into a
cultural center, was completely filled for Cuban Culture
Minister Abel Prieto’s contribution to the World Educational
Forum, in session on the banks of the Guaíba river.
Abel spoke out
against the globalizing and hegemonic cultural project, whose
principal witnesses are teachers and professors in Latin
America and the Third World.
"In Cuba we
are working on a kind of educational revolution. Classrooms
and university specialties gave been opened up to the whole
community, with free matriculation and books," explained
the minister, adding that Africans, Latin American and even
U.S. citizens with few resources are studying at Cuban
universities.
While in Cuba
the media is used to educate the people, Venezuela’s
privately owned media is at the service of spurious interests,
right-wing coup supporters and the United States, the real
axis of evil, Abel charged.
"While we
believe here that another world is possible, in Venezuela
those forces are trying to prevent its construction," he
concluded, after calling on progressive and revolutionary
forces at the forum to support the Bolivarian cause.
Meanwhile, the
National Authorities Social Inclusion Forum was underway at
the packed headquarters of the city’s Medical Association,
attended by hundreds of delegates from all over the world.
Hundreds of
young people from diverse latitudes met up in the
International Youth Camp for a pleasant and wide-ranging
exchange with Cuban youth.
Germano Rigotto,
governor of the Brazilian state of Río Grande do Sul,
received José Ramón Balaguer, member of the Political Bureau
of the Cuban Communist Party, who is heading the Cuban
delegation to the forum.
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