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Hope
in Porto Alegre, repression in Davos
BY
JOAQUIN ORAMAS
TWO
events with broad international repercussions, the
World Social Forum in Porto Alegre and the World
Economic Forum in Davos, are presenting a marked
contrast. The first is developing with a joyful,
vibrant and optimistic content; while the other is
overshadowed by the political repression of
thousands of demonstrators denouncing the threats of
war and the consequences of neoliberal
globalization, thus painting the image of a world in
upheaval.
The
Social Forum, with more than 100,000 participants,
has been discussing the most pressing problems a
large part of humanity is facing with a rejection of
threats of war and neoliberal policies at the center
of the debate. An issue brought up in various panels
and seminars is that of the external debt and the
burden on the Third World countries of that debt and
servicing it, sometimes involving up to 40% of their
incomes. The Venezuelan president gave the example
of his own country, by revealing at the event that
it has paid $20 billion USD towards that debt and
continues to owe $23 billion USD.
For
every dollar that the poor countries receive in aid
they have to spend six dollars servicing their
external debt. "It is impossible to emerge from
poverty with those perverse mechanisms of
transferring capital from the poorest to the
richest," Chávez affirmed, agreeing with
President Fidel Castro that it is an eternal debt.
Another
aspect attacked at Porto Alegre was the use of the
media to distort the truth in order to serve private
interests and fascism. French professor Ignacio
Ramonet posed the need to draw up what he called an
ecology of information. He called on the large
consortiums dominating the media to have an
elemental respect for the truth.
He
also announced the constitution at the forum of an
International Media Observatory, going on to say
that such groups will know that while they belong to
neoliberal globalization, "we belong to the
World Social Movement."
Concerns
at this forum also focused on the demand to apply
the Johannesburg Summit agreements on sustainable
development and in defense of the environment.
Likewise criticized was the fact that whereas the
world entered the 21st century with vertiginous
developments in science and technology, the
principal capitalist consumers are negatively
affecting nature, compounded by the 500 million-plus
people without access to education, the hundreds of
millions of homeless and two billion persons lacking
services to guarantee them medical attention,
regular supplies of drinking water and electricity.
The
panel discussing those issues proposed concrete
action to value people’s economic, social,
cultural and environmental rights as the only way to
respect civil and political rights.
In the
roundtable on social movements and political
parties, Gladys Marín, representing the Communist
Party of Chile, reiterated support for the
Venezuelan government and people and noted that the
fascists there are using the same tactics as those
used in Chile against President Salvador Allende,
which culminated in his death and the murder of
thousands of Chileans. She called for a united and
vigilant and determined resistance to combat and
defeat reactionary forces and fascism.
WAR
ALSO CAUSE FOR CONCERN IN DAVOS
Although
the Swiss police mobilized thousands of agents,
helicopters and planes to guarantee the tranquility
of the powerful nations meeting in the Davos tourist
resort, thousand of demonstrators managed to get
close to the proceedings, but were attacked by the
public forces, leaving various injured. Hundred of
other protesters from various countries organized a
parallel demonstration in Berne, the Swiss capital.
Meanwhile
at the Davos Economic Forum tension surrounding the
theme of Iraq generated harsh criticism, a situation
reflected in last weekend on the finance markets.
Differences were marked during exchanges between the
business community and U.S. political leaders and
their key European allies on the threat of war on
that Arab country, reiterated at the forum by U.S.
Secretary of State Colin Powell.
Speaking
at the meeting, the veteran policy planning chief of
the U.S. State Department, Richard Hass,
acknowledged that Washington still has to present
convincing evidence for undertaking military action
against Baghdad after Russia and China joined France
and Germany in their opposition to a premature
battle. Hass insisted that war was not inevitable in
spite of the massive build-up of U.S. and British
troops in the Persian Gulf. He claimed that his
country had not yet passed the point of no return,
but his words did not have the intended effect.
However,
he added that Washington was convinced that weapons
inspection process was imperfect, given that Iraq
held back alleged information in its list of
materials for chemical and biological weapons.
The
deteriorated state of international relations and
malaise over and opposition to U.S. foreign policy
were basic topics for discussion among some 2,000
bankers, representing the transnationals and other
sectors of the economy attending the meeting. They
could not avoid the gloomy atmosphere reflecting
world economic uncertainty, corporate scandals in
the United States and the announced threat of a war
that would have disastrous consequences for
everyone, including the most powerful economically.
On the
other hand, Amr Moussa, secretary general of the
Arab League, stated that he hoped that the weapons
inspectors in Iraq would ask for more time to
undertake their labors of locating alleged weapons
of extermination in Iraq.
He
also affirmed that the experts’ report to the
Security Council should not provoke a war.
"We
are not convinced. Where are the justifications for
a war?" he asked during a debate in the forum
screened by BBS television in London.
Pat
Cox, president of the European Parliament, stated
that U.S. might requires the force of international
law and that the United Nations cannot be used as a
simple rubber stamp. He added that the reason for a
lack of total consensus is due to the fact that more
and more members of the public still have to be
convinced, and clearer evidence is needed.
The
growing disagreements between Washington and its
European allies resulted in a fall in the dollar and
led global investors to seek security for their
money by having recourse to European government
bonds, gold, oil and the Swiss franc, which all
strengthened during the day.
Political
analysts at the Davos encounter affirmed that
relations between the United States and Europe are
at their lowest level in decades, with mutual
displays of great exasperation. They warned that
while Washington thinks that Europe is refusing to
recognize and confront its pronouncements on threats
to security, the majority of the European nations
are saying that the United States wishes to impose
its own rules, ignoring allies and seeking military
solutions to global problems.
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