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World Social Forum 2005
The fifth World Social Forum took place in Brazil in
February. For several reasons this year’s event was significant. For the
increased numbers of radical young people and workers. The reaction to Brazilian
and Venezuelan presidents, Lula and Chávez. For the emergence of P-Sol as a
potential new left force in Brazil. HANNAH SELL, who participated as part of the
Committee for a Workers’ International contingent, reports.
THE ANTI-CAPITALIST, or more accurately, anti-corporate,
movement began with action – demonstrations against the leaders and institutions
of global capitalism. From Seattle onwards, however, it became clear there was a
need to combine struggle with discussion and debate on how to take the struggle
forward, on the nature of what we are fighting and the nature of the
alternative.
The World Social Forums (WSFs), and later the European
Social Forums (ESFs), have been seen by many of the organisers and participants
as a means of enabling just such a discussion. From the beginning, however, they
have also been used by more right-wing forces, including a section of the ruling
class, to try to draw in and ‘tame’ the anti-capitalist movement. At more recent
events this tendency has become stronger. For example, the 2003 ESF was
partially funded by the right-wing French government and the Paris local
authority. The 2004 ESF in Britain was largely financed, and its agenda strongly
influenced, by Ken Livingstone, New Labour Mayor of London. It was no accident
that there was only one discussion on socialism in the entire event (organised
by International Socialist Resistance). Unfortunately, other socialist
organisations involved in organising the ESF (primarily the Socialist Workers
Party) made it easier for Livingstone by actively arguing against socialist
discussion forming part of the agenda.
Similar processes were also evident at the fifth WSF held in
Porto Alegre, Brazil – the birthplace of the WSF. Despite the formal ban on
political parties Lula, the PT (Partido dos Trabalhadores – Workers’ Party)
president of Brazil, was invited to address a major set-piece rally. He
attempted to defend his dismal record of neo-liberal attacks on the working
class and poor, and his complete failure to solve the land question (the pace of
reform is slower than under Fernando Cardoso, the previous right-wing
president). At the same time, attempts were made to silence opposition to Lula.
For example, before the 200,000-strong opening demonstration, pressure was
exerted on the new Partido Socialismo e Liberdade (P-Sol – Party of Socialism
and Liberty) to refrain from having a sound system or chanting anti-Lula slogans
– a pressure it correctly resisted.
Continental radicalisation
THIS WAS THE other side to the WSF. While all the negative
processes were present, the positive aspects of the social forum movement were
qualitatively stronger than at any previous WSF or ESF. This was demonstrated in
the outlook of the majority of WSF participants and also in the number of
workers, in addition to radical young people, who took part. Over the last
decade the Latin American masses have been involved in wave after wave of heroic
struggle against privatisation and neo-liberalism. In some countries this has
stopped privatisation in its tracks and also entailed mass insurrectionary
movements of the working class and poor peasantry. This has had a profoundly
radicalising effect on the consciousness of the continent’s workers and poor
peoples.
In 2003, at the last WSF in Porto Alegre, this was muted
because of enthusiasm for the newly elected Lula government. The 2003 opening
march, for example, was concluded by a triumphant speech from Lula. Two years
on, it is a very different story. On the opening demonstration P-Sol and others
led widespread chanting of ‘Lula, traitor!’ and ‘Lula, your place is in Davos!’
(the venue of the World Economic Forum meeting of capitalist leaders). This time
the demonstration had no official speakers at all!
At the massive meeting addressed by Hugo Chávez, president
of Venezuela, a small group of Socialist Youth (the youth section of the Partido
Comunista do Brazil – PCdoB – which is part of the PT government and seen as
Lula’s political thought police) started chanting pro-Lula slogans and waving
their party flags. In seconds a seething anger and bitter hostility filled the
air. When the president of the CUT trade union federation, Luis Marinho, who is
rightly seen a colluding in the government’s attacks on the trade unions and
education, tried to address the meeting, he was literally booed from the stage.
Lula gave a very defensive speech on the first day of the
forum, to an audience largely made up of people who were not part of the WSF.
The speech did nothing to convince the tens of thousands of radical young people
at the event. On the contrary, if anything it hardened their opposition to him.
"Lula thinks he can have a foot in both camps – be for the capitalists and for
the workers. But he can’t, he’s just a capitalist". This was the most frequently
expressed opinion in discussions with young Brazilians. While many workers are
still hoping against hope that Lula will start to deliver, a significant section
of the working class has completely broken with the PT government.
It is significant that Lula felt obliged to refer to the
counter-demonstration, organised by P-Sol and others, taking place as he spoke.
He attempted to dismiss and patronise the demonstrators, calling them "the
children of the PT" and saying that they would be "educated with love". But the
fact that Lula made these comments contradict his point. He was forced to refer
directly to the demonstration because it could not be brushed aside. The
‘children’ of Lula’s government, the young people growing up in Brazil, facing
the government’s neo-liberal attacks on education, are increasingly looking for
an alternative.
Chávez & socialism
THE CENTRE POINT of the WSF was the Hugo Chávez rally. It
seemed as if the entire 60,000-strong youth camp were trudging for an hour
through the heat to join the queue to enter the rally. In the event, 20,000
squeezed into the venue and maybe as many again were turned away. The stadium
was filled with huge red flags while Chávez and his ministers all wore red
shirts! P-Sol began the socialist chanting which was then taken up by the chair.
The whole hall shook: ‘Brazil, Venezuela, Central America, a socialist fight is
international’, and ‘Down with imperialism, long live socialism’. More than any
other event at the WSF, this gave a foretaste of how, on the basis of their
experience of struggle, the mass of the working class, in Latin America and
worldwide, will push aside the confusion caused by the collapse of Stalinism and
wholeheartedly embrace the genuine ideas of socialism.
Chávez himself reflected the mood of the meeting, declaring
for the first time that "capitalism can only be transformed via genuine
socialism – a just and equal society". However, while Chávez made many other
very effective points, and has carried out some limited but very welcome
nationalisation measures in Venezuela, it is not enough to support the idea of
socialism, a programme to achieve it is also necessary. Unfortunately, Chávez
did not advocate a clear programme that will allow the working class to
overthrow capitalism and establish a socialist planned economy.
His speech also contained a number of incorrect ideas. For
example, he spoke warmly of his close relationship with the Chinese regime and
Colonel Gaddafi and praised Vladimir Putin as doing a good job in standing up to
US imperialism. For most of the audience the most disappointing part of his
speech was when he finished with praising Lula, describing him as "a good man
and a friend of ours".
Desire to applaud his speech overall stopped most people
from booing this remark, but a section of the audience could not help
themselves. In fact, a noticeable aspect of the Chávez meeting was that, while
there was rightly universal praise for Chávez for standing up to imperialism,
this did not mean an uncritical or unthinking support for all his policies. An
important layer of those attending the meeting consciously sees the need for a
revolutionary socialist alternative. Others, while enthusiastic about Chávez’s
remarks on socialism and public spending, were uneasy with the radical Latin
American nationalism that accompanied it. This is partly a reflection of the
strong traditions of the workers’ movement in Brazil, which came into conflict
with radical bourgeois nationalism in its formative period. Nonetheless, it
shows the development in consciousness of layers of the Brazilian working class,
and the potential for a radical socialist party to build a base.
P-Sol shines
IN THE FIVE days of the WSF, P-Sol intervened energetically
as a dynamic, clearly socialist, new party. As a result, it became a point of
attraction for all radical young people at the forum. This does not mean that
they will automatically join it. There is an understandable questioning on the
issue of democracy and a fear of a repetition of the betrayal of the PT. The
need for any new party to be based on struggle is also widely understood. But
while many of these young people will have to be convinced to join, P-Sol is now
pushing at a wide open door.
P-Sol held its second national meeting during the WSF. More
than 1,800 people, mostly existing P-Sol members, sat for ten hours in the
baking heat in a meeting, as the chair put it, "for struggle, happiness and
solidarity". In fact, if the meeting, or a separate P-Sol rally, had been
advertised widely during the forum many thousands more would have attended. The
meeting was marked by its enthusiasm and its democratic spirit. At the
beginning, hundreds of young people marched into the room carrying banners and
flags, singing and playing drums.
P-Sol activists had every reason to be pleased with their
progress to date. To register as an official party in Brazil it is necessary to
collect 450,000 signatures. P-Sol has already got 430,000 and has a target of
500,000. Throughout the meeting, speeches and greetings were given by trade
union activists and leaders who have broken with the PT and are considering
joining P-Sol. The meeting was also notable for its internationalism. Trotskyist
and left parties from around the world were invited to give greetings. Joe
Higgins TD and I spoke on behalf of the Socialist Parties of Ireland and
England/Wales.
The meeting agreed a number of resolutions. A short
political resolution outlined campaigning priorities – including taking part in,
and leading, struggle against the attacks on education, against privatisation,
for land reform, and for the withdrawal of Brazilian troops from Haiti. The
resolution also proposed a debate on standing Heloísa Helena, the leader of the
party and a very popular mass figure, for president in 2006. She is already
receiving 3–5% of the vote in opinion polls. The resolution was an addition to
the political programme which was agreed at the first national meeting last
June, which included an explicit call for socialism and revolution. P-Sol’s
programme and democratic approach put it on a higher level than any new
formation in Europe. As a party formed primarily by revolutionary and Trotskyist
currents, it is not a ‘broad’ party in the sense that it has abandoned clear
socialist objectives, but it potentially has a broad, mass appeal to the
radicalised masses of Brazil.
It is a new party, however, and its character is not yet
fully determined. It was extremely positive that the meeting also agreed to a
founding national congress, with democratically elected delegates, to take place
in November or December of this year. In the period running up to the conference
there will be a period of debate in which a number of issues will be raised. One
issue being discussed is the degree of emphasis the party puts on electoral
success. While there will clearly be opportunities for P-Sol to use elections to
raise its profile, a primarily electoral strategy would not allow P-Sol to reach
its potential amongst the radicalised and poor masses of Brazil. However, as the
WSF demonstrated, if it continues to develop as a combative, fighting, socialist
party – with an open and democratic approach – it has the potential to become a
major force amongst the Brazilian working class.
Next year, the WSF will not be taking place. Instead,
regional social forums will be held, including a Forum of the Americas in
Venezuela. The inner contradictions of the social forum movement – between the
majority of the leadership who are moving in a rightward direction and the
increased radicalism of the young people who are drawn to it – are becoming
starker. It is possible that this will lead to an end to the social forums at a
certain stage. In Europe, recent forums have certainly been smaller than the
initial ones. If the forums do not provide the answers that radical young people
and trade unionists are looking for, and are not part of the living struggle,
they will not continue to attend indefinitely.
The fifth WSF raised a different prospect. As class
consciousness and combativity has risen in Latin America, the young people who
attend the WSF are beginning to draw definite conclusions about how to change
society – a minority are drawing revolutionary socialist conclusions and many
more are heading in that direction. As they do so they are increasingly coming
into open conflict with right-wing elements within the WSF. In the coming years
these young people, whose political lives began in the anti-capitalist movement,
can play a crucial role in the development of mass workers’ organisations
capable of leading the working class in the struggle to change society.
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