Activists from across the Americas on Tuesday kicked off an anti-globalisation gathering in Caracas with a march against war marked by slogans blasting the United States president and hailing Venezuela and Cuba’s leftist leaders.
Hundreds of Americans took part in the march, including Cindy Sheehan, the mother of a US soldier killed in Iraq, who gained notoriety last year when she camped outside US President George Bush’s ranch to protest the war.
“We need to stop the war in Iraq, we need to bring our troops home immediately,” Sheehan said to rousing cheers from the more than 10 000 people who participated in the demonstration that marks the start of the six-day World Social Forum in Caracas.
“We need to see that George Bush and the rest of them are tried for crimes against humanity,” said Sheehan, who is attending the forum at the invitation of the Venezuelan government.
Many participants professed profound admiration for their host, President Hugo Chavez, seen by many as the standard bearer of the new left in Latin America. Critics however accuse him of using the event to showcase his leftist revolution.
“I admire him for his resolve against my government and its meddling,” Sheehan told Agence France-Presse.
Another US participant, Pilar Maez (23) said Chavez managed to inspire others through his efforts to combat poverty in this oil-rich country.
“It’s important to have a person people can look up to as a leader, something we lack in the United States right now,” said Maez, of the US-Cuba labor exchange group.
The activists hailed not only Chavez but also Cuba’s communist President Fidel Castro, often seen as the mentor of the Venezuelan leader, and Bolivia’s newly elected president. “Long live Comandante Chavez, long live Fidel, long live Evo Morales,” they chanted.
“The forum will strengthen the advance of the left in the region,” said Cuban Culture Minister Abel Pietro, a member of a large delegation sent by Castro. Organisers said the demonstration has set “an anti-war, anti-imperialist tone”.
Several religious groups were also among the protesters, including the Muslim Association of Britain, US Quakers, and orange-clad devouts who chanted the name of the Indian god Krishna.
Organisers say more than 60 000 people have registered to attend the forum, which will feature over 1 800 panels on issues as diverse as the struggle against imperialism, alternatives to the “predatory model of civilisation,” foreign debt, world trade, and inter-religious dialogue.
The Caracas forum follows a similar event that concluded in Mali on Monday. The Asian chapter of the WSF is scheduled to be held in Pakistan in March.
The annual event is designed as a counterpoint to the World Economic Forum of political and business leaders that gets under way in the Swiss ski resort of Davos on Wednesday.
But there has been grumbling not only in the opposition but also within the forum that the event is being used to promote Chavez’s revolution.
Chavez, a gifted if at times unstoppable orator, will address the gathering at least twice before it concludes on Sunday.
The firebrand and unorthodox leader is certain to once again lash out at Bush, whom he has in the past called a threat to humanity and a murderous psychopath.
In a major public relations coup last month, Chavez offered cheap heating oil to needy Americans in the Bronx neighbourhood of New York as well as other areas of the eastern United States.
Among the marchers on Tuesday were six Boston residents who said they had traveled to Caracas to thank Chavez.
The United States is the main importer of Venezuela’s oil, buying about 1,5-million barrels a day, almost half the South American country’s production. – AFP