The press conference held yesterday at midday by the Hemispheric
Council
for the World Social Forum in the Americas informed journalists about
specific aspects of the VI World Social Forum and the II Social Forum
of
the Americas.

Emilio Taddei (CLACSO) and Phumi Mtetwa (South-South GLBT Dialogue),
both
members of the International Council for the Social Forum, spoke about
the
activities that inaugurated the World Social Forum - Caracas 2006.

This 6th Forum is a another meeting between social movements,
non-governmental organisations and different networks and collectives
that
struggle on a daily basis for an alternative world, against neoliberal
policies, against war and the militarization principally unleashed by
the
Bush government.

"The fact that the Social Forum is being held in Caracas takes on
particular importance given the verbal aggression that the North
American
government has directed towards to Venezuelan people", said Taddei.

For her part, Phumi Mtetwa expressed that "this Forum is part of a
global
process where social movements and non-governmental organisations from
around the world commit themselves to an analysis of the world we live
in.
At the same time, they also propose alternatives and try them out to
see
if they work". Mtetwa thanked the Venezuelan people and the people of
Caracas for having received the Forum and for having facilitated space
and
the necessary conditions to allow these social movimients to continue
reflecting with autonomy and diversity.

"We want this forum to be free of racismo, sexism, homophobia and all
other forms of violence", she said.

Not only are social movements from the American continent present, but
also groups from Asia, Europe, Africa and Australia. Inasmuch, it is
not
only a hemispheric process but a global one. The largest delegations,
after the Venezuelan delegation, are the delegations from Colombia and
the
USA.

Of the almost 2000 planned activities, 500 are led by Brazilians, 400
by
Venezuelans, 200 by Colombians and 100 by groups from the United
States.

Politics and the Forum.

When questioned if the Forum has been politicized, Taddei refered to
the
beginnings of the event as an opposition to Davos. "The World Social
Forum from its beginning is a forum that constitutes a political
response.
The forum in itself has, has had and will continue to have the
objective
of contributing to anti-neoliberal and anti-war political debates and
action(...)

The organizations and movements that conform the International Council
hope that forum after forum, political debates and political action
grow
in quality and effectiveness".

"We hope that these debates and these experiences are helpful and
contribute to the revolutionary process that Venezuelan society has
undertaken. Thus, we welcome the politicization of the Forum and we
hope
to leave here with a strong debate and with a strong will for
international political action".

In relations to the linking of the Forum with the governments in which
the
Forums are held, Taddei explained that, from its beginning and as
stated
in the Charter of Principles, it is a non-governmental forum. He
stated
that, obviously, there exists a cooperative relationship with those
governments that identify with anti-neoliberal politics.

An event such as the Forum, that is now in its 6th edition, is
impossible
to conceive of without the infrastructure where it is being held. Past
forums in Brazil, held in the city of Porto Alegre, had the support of
the
municipal and state governments which did not signify political
control.
A similar reflexion fits for the case of the forum in Venezuela. There
is, the panelists confirmed, total respect on behalf of the government
of
Venezuela for the autonomous space and the programming at the Forum.

Trans. Amanda Procter