[WSF-Discuss] [Fwd: Another Report from the Americas Social Forum]

[Madhuresh]

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	Another Report from the Americas Social Forum
Date: 	Thu, 16 Oct 2008 10:44:25 -0700 (PDT)
From: 	Jeff Juris <jeffjuris at yahoo.com>
Reply-To: 	jeffjuris at yahoo.com
To: 	jai.sen at cacim.net, madhuresh at cacim.net, p.waterman at inter.nl.net



Guatemala: Americas Social Forum Rejects Neoliberalism, Celebrates
Resistance

Written by Marc Becker
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
Upside Down World
http://upsidedownworld.org/main/content/view/1524/1/

The Third Americas Social Forum closed on Sunday with a massive rally
from the Obelisk in Guatemala City's elite "Zona Viva," past the U.S.
Embassy, to the National Palace on the main square in the center of
town. With the participation of more than 7,000 delegates from
throughout the Americas and Europe, the 6-day event condemned neoliberal
economic policies, and pledged to build a better world.

This was the third meeting of the Americas Social Forum, and the first
one in Central America. It first met in Quito, Ecuador in 2004, and in
Caracas, Venezuela in 2006 as part of that year's Polycentric World
Social Forum. Although somewhat smaller than the previous two
gatherings, the participation of 350 organizations in pulling together a
wide range of events meant that it was a very rich meeting. Organizer
Jorge Coronado noted that the forum needs to move with current
realities, and that despite problems with a lack of funds and
translations (the forum was a primarily monolingual Spanish event), the
social forum process is "more alive than ever."

The forum ran from October 7-12, bridging two symbolically important
dates. On October 8, 1967, Che Guevara was captured in combat in
Bolivia. Sympathizers have subsequently celebrated that anniversary as
the Day of the Heroic Guerrilla. True to form, the first full day's
activities closed with a special celebration of Che's life. On the main
stage in the Plaza of Martyrs at the University of San Carlos where the
forum's events were held, Cuban musicians played Nueva Trova music.
During the day, Cuban veterans talked about Che's life on the school's
Plaza of the Heroic Guerrilla, with a mural of Che and the Americas
overlooking their activities. As with all of the forums in the Americas,
red Che t-shirts were ubiquitous throughout the event.

Organizers intentionally organized the forum to culminate on October 12.
Elites have historically celebrated the anniversary of Christopher
Columbus' arrival in the Americas as the Día de la Hispanidad, or Day of
the Race. Leading up to the quincentennial of that voyage in 1992,
however, Indigenous peoples began to commemorate it as a day of resistance.

Resistance Forum

Each social forum assumes its own character, and Jorge Coronado of the
Hemispheric Commission from the Americas Social Forum, identified the
Guatemala meeting as "the forum of resistance of the continental
people's movement." Coronado observed that participants debated "some of
the most pressing issues that face social movement struggles: free trade
agreements, neoliberalism, and the issue of mining, which affects rural
and indigenous communities."

In addition to being a forum of resistance, the Guatemala meeting was an
overwhelmingly Indigenous event. Because of the costs and complications
of travel, most participants naturally come from the host country.
Guatemala is the most Indigenous country in Latin America, with about 80
percent of the population belonging to one of 25 different Maya groups.
As a result, Maya languages and colorful local dress were common
throughout the forum.

In March 2007, Joel Suárez from the Martin Luther King Center in Havana,
Cuba, invited delegates at the Third Continental Summit of Indigenous
Peoples and Nationalities of the Americas to the 2008 forum. "For it to
be successful," Suárez emphasized, "the forum must have an Indigenous
and female face."

Last week, Suárez noted that "we tried to have a different kind of
forum, one with a strong presence of women, Indigenous peoples, young
people, and campesinos. I think we have seen a strong mobilization of
Indigenous social organizations and young people, even children have had
a presence in this meeting. Overall we are feeling really good about the
event."

Indigenous and Peasants

Indigenous events at the forum were split along two different axis,
betraying a lingering Indigenous/peasant or ethnicist/class division
that emerged in a 1991 anti-quincentennial conference in Quetzaltenango,
Guatemala. Organizations affiliated with Via Campesina met outside under
the "carpa campesina" or peasant tent, whereas those more strongly
identifying with the "Indigenous" wing of the movement gathered in an
auditorium called the Iglu (Igloo).

Some delegates drifted back and forth between the two events, and some
leaders presented at both events, but for the most part participants
stayed where they had their organizational affiliation. The peasant tent
had more banners and rhetorical slogans, whereas in the Iglu speakers
disposed with much of those trappings. Beyond that, on the surface and
in terms of content the two events seemed remarkably similar. Both had a
ceremonial alter in front of the lead table, and both were heavily
attended by people speaking Indigenous languages and wearing traditional
clothing.

Discussions revolved around common issues of the rights to land and
water and food sovereignty. The Via Campesina group emphasized on going
issues of agrarian reform, but that issue was also present in the Iglu.
  Blanca Chancoso, an Indigenous leader from Ecuador and long a key
player in the social forum process, pointed to the importance of land
and resources in social movement struggles. "Water is not a commodity,
water is life," she said. "We are also saying that land is not a
commodity, land is life. The land is our mother and our mother is not a
commodity."

Humberto Cholango, president of Ecuarunari, the movement of highland
Kichwas in Ecuador, emphasized the broad nature of Indigenous struggles.
"From a position of unity, we bring together other social forces, not
only Indigenous peoples who have been excluded and abused," he said. "A
large majority of compañeros and compañeras, young people, women,
students, and workers are also victims of the neoliberal model."

This theme of unity and of linking struggles and bridging divides was a
theme that ran throughout the forum. Even while many participants were
happy to stay within their comfort zones, leaders were willing to
participate on panels organized by others in order to strengthen and
deepen alliances.

Plurinationalism

If the peasant tent's main issue was agrarian reform, for the Iglu it
was definitely plurinationalism, a topic that delegates repeatedly
returned to over the course of four days of meetings.

The Guatemala forum came right on the heels of voters in Ecuador
approving on September 28 a new constitution that embraced that
country's plurinational nature. As a result, that became a common topic
of conversation at the Indigenous event. Ex-president of the constituent
assembly Alberto Acosta is currently one of the Indigenous movement's
strongest allies in Ecuador, and he gave a rousing speech in support of
plurinationalism at the inauguration of the forum on the evening of
October 7 at the Plaza of Martyrs.

At a seminar on Indigenous resistance to neoliberalism, Humberto
Cholango contrasted plurinationalism with pluriculturalism that tends to
reinforce neoliberalism and the folklorization of Indigenous peoples.
Plurinationalism, Cholango argued, was a broad political, social, and
economic concept. It means fighting for a new political process, not
just for a small representation in government, but for a new concept of
state structures. He argued that plurinationalism opened up a path to a
socialist state that would provide social justice for everyone in the
country.

In addition to plurinationalism, "sumak kawsay" or living well, was a
theme that ran throughout the Indigenous meetings and spread throughout
the forum. Bolivia's foreign relations minister David Choquehuanca had
introduced this concept at the 2007 Indigenous summit in Guatemala. He
noted that development plans look for a better life, but this results in
inequality.  Indigenous peoples, instead, look to how to live well, or
"sumak kawsay" in Quechua. Choquehuanca emphasized the need to look for
a culture of life.

Roberto Espinoza from the Coordinadora Andina de Organizaciones
Indígenas (CAOI, or Andean Coordinating Body of Indigenous
Organizations) emphasized "sumak kawsay" involved Indigenous values of
reciprocity, and an emphasis on collective rather than individual
rights. Benita Simón, a Maya delegate from the Guatemalan town of
Huehuetenango, was one of many people who returned to that theme during
the forum. "Good living for us is also taking the position of moving
from actions of resistance to actions that allow us to take back power,"
she said.

Indigenous summits

During the forum, Indigenous organizations solidified their plans to
hold the Fourth Continental Summit of Indigenous Peoples and
Nationalities of Abya Yala (the Kuna name for the Americas) in Puno,
Peru, the last week of May 2009. The meeting will begin with the second
summit of Indigenous youth and the first summit of Indigenous women.

Indigenous peoples also discussed their participation in broader social
forums, including the upcoming World Social Forum at the end of January
2009 in Belem, Brazil. Roberto Espinoza insisted that Indigenous peoples
not only be a folkloric presence in these meetings, but be integrally
involved with debates on substantive issues. There has been a problem of
a lack of Indigenous representation on the International Council that
organizes the broader World Social Forum. Debates swirled around several
issues of why that might be the case. Roberto Espinoza acknowledged that
CAOI has been invited to site on the council, but with other pressing
and more local issues it is often difficult to commit the resources
necessary to attend these meetings. This reflects a broader problem with
the social forum process, that it is often only those with the time,
resources, and visas necessary to travel who attend them. Unfortunately,
this all too often excludes precisely those whom the forum should embrace.

Tom Goldtooth of the Indigenous Environmental Network (IEN) who sits on
the National Planning Committee of the United States Social Forum,
however, found these efforts to bring Indigenous and peasant peoples
into the planning of the forum an encouraging move. It adds a strength
to the forum, he noted. While there are problems, they should not be
insurmountable.

Women

As Joel Suárez noted, the forum did have much more of a female face than
many of the previous meetings. Women's groups used the forum to build
their ongoing struggles. Benita Simón declared in the Iglu "that the
participation of Maya women from Huehuetenango in this space is part of
a process, not a single event: our struggle will continue." Women's
organizations had their own tent, and a full range of activities.

At the forum, the Nobel Women's Initiative, a group of women who have
won the Nobel Peace Prize, released a statement in support of
Mesoamerican feminists. They urged government "protection and respect
for the rights of women and feminist leaders." They expressed concern
for the deteriorating situation of millions of women in Central America,
particularly in regards to attacks on abortion rights and feminicide.

In particular, the Nobel Women's Initiative pointed with alarm to
growing state violence against feminists in Nicaragua, and in particular
against long time leader Sofia Montenegro. Members of Montenegro's
organization, the Movimiento Autónomo de Mujeres (MAM, Autonomous
Women's Movement) were present at the forum to make denunciations
against Daniel Ortega's government for these attacks. When Blanca
Chancoso, for example, listed Nicaragua as part of the red tide sweeping
Latin America, Gonzalo Carrión stood up to correct her, insisting that
despite the historic association of the 1979 Sandinista Revolution with
social justice the current government was not a leftwing government.

The Nobel Women's Initiative stated with certainty that Another World Is
Possible, "and that world must include gender equality and a life free
of violence for all women." Women, they said, "are a central part of our
dreams and actions to achieve a better world."

U.S. Solidarity

As a movement that emerged out of the global south, the United States
has always played  a relatively marginal role in the social forum
process. Grassroots Global Justice (GGJ) has worked harder than any
other organization to bridge that gap. Once again, they brought an
energetic delegation of several dozen activists from the U.S. to the
forum. Michael Leon Guerrero explains that GGJ was formed in 2002 as a
vehicle to "build a different solidarity with social movements around
the world where we can start to talk about, together develop joint
strategies around how we deal with neoliberalism and the conditions that
are facing our countries." As GGJ delegation member and scholar-activist
Walda Katz-Fishman from Sociologists Without Borders says, the forum has
become "an important space for bringing social movements together across
sectors, across race, ethnicity, gender lines."

The forum helped connect broader issues to communities of struggle in
the U.S. Maria Poblet, from Saint Peter's Housing Committee says that
"as an organization that works with immigrant Latinos, we have come here
to Guatemala to be face to face with the conditions that cause people to
migrate." She was inspired by her experiences at the forum, and in
particular the spirit of resistance in Guatemala in the face of extreme
violence and repression. "Here we are in Guatemala that presents to us
the challenge saying after 200,000 people disappeared from our country
and were killed, we are organizing this forum and we are inviting you to
participate," Poblet says.

Stephanie Guilloud, Program Director of Project South worked on the
United States Social Forum that met last summer in Atlanta. She says,
"we are also here to connect to the forum organizers and look at the
design, the structures of the flow of the organizing process so that we
can really get in line with global movements that created the social
forum." The sense of belonging to a common struggle across the Americas
motivated many delegates from the north. Jerome Scott from the League of
Revolutionaries for a New America summed it up with the statement that
"we're fighting a global enemy, and therefore we are going to have to
have a global movement."

Tom Goldtooth is very concerned about what is happening in the United
States. "We are witnessing the collapse of capitalism," he says. He came
to Guatemala to join with other Indigenous peoples across that Americas
in opposition to "a neoliberal system that is not working and continues
to oppress our people." He encouraged participants at the forum not to
forget Indigenous peoples who are often at the front lines of struggles
against mineral extraction and other devastating impacts of capitalism.
  Rose Brewer of Afro-Eco echoed the importance of engaging these
issues, particularly those concerning free trade. "These are issues that
have sometimes have been addressed but it is very clear here that both
south-to-south and south-to-north fights against the FTAA have been
successful." Brewer further pointed to Venezuela's Bolivarian
Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) as an encouraging development.

Closing March

By the time of the closing march on Sunday, many international delegates
had already returned home. As a result, the march become a primarily
Maya Guatemalan event. The best organized delegations were from the Via
Campesina-affiliated Comité de Unidad Campesino (CUC, Committee of
Peasant Unity) and Consejo Nacional de Indígenas y Campesinos (CONIC,
National Council of Indigenous and Peasant Peoples).

The march was advertised as a continent march of resistance of
Indigenous peoples and nationalities of Abya Yala (the Americas), but
explicitly Indigenous organizations had a relatively minimal presence.
For example, the Coordinación y Convergencia National Maya (Waqib' Kej,
or National Maya Coordination and Convergence) who had organized many of
the Indigenous events had only a small delegation. CAOI, the primary
co-organizer of events in the Iglu, was largely absent, with the
significant exception of lead organizer Roberto Espinoza reading a
document drafted at the meeting on the main stage at the closing rally.

The Third Indigenous Summit held in March 2007 similarly ended with a
massive march on Guatemala City's main square. At that closing rally, as
the sun set and a gorgeous full moon rose over the national palace,
organizers launched three hot air balloons, two with the rainbow colors
of the Indigenous flag. As the 2008 rally drew to a close in the early
afternoon, organizers similarly attempted to launch hot air balloons.
Wind gusts caught the first one, and it began to burn as it rose in the
air. The second one burned even before it got off of the launch pad.

The 2008 Americas Social Forum was unique and successful, but that does
not mean that it does not still face challenges that need to be
overcome. Nevertheless, social forums still have an important role to
play, and the future of the social forum process is promising.


-- 

**********************************************
CACIM, A-3 Defence Colony, New Delhi 110 024, India
Ph : +91-11-4155 1521, +91-98-1890 5316 (Mobile)
madhuresh at cacim.net / kmadhuresh at gmail.com 
www.cacim.net
Check out the OpenSpaceForum @ www.openspaceforum.net
 
Subscribe to WSFDiscuss, an open and unmoderated forum on the World Social Forum and on related social and political movements and issues. Simply send an empty email to worldsocialforum-discuss-subscribe at openspaceforum.net
 
And, NEW ! : Join CEOS at openspaceforum.net, the CEOS (Critical Engagement with Open Space) listserve for exchange and coordination on open space theory and practice and to facilitate a critical discussion of the idea of ‘open space’.  Just send an empty mail to CEOS-subscribe at openspaceforum.net

-------------- next part --------------
An embedded and charset-unspecified text was scrubbed...
Name: Attached Message Part
URL: <http://mail.openspaceforum.net/pipermail/worldsocialforum-discuss_openspaceforum.net/attachments/20081016/69b5b32a/attachment.pl>