Americas Social Forum (Quito, Ecuador, July 25-30, 2004)

Report by Marc Becker (NIGD)

Radical Democracy

The Network Institute for Global Democratization (NIGD) helped organize two panels on radical democracy at the Americas Social Forum in Quito at the end of July 2004. The first panel was entitled "Democracy without end so that capitalism comes to an end" and was organized with Movimiento Raiz, Kawsay, and several other social movement organizations.

In the panel, Rodrigo Montoya (Kawsay) raised the issue that it is common for people to pay lip service to values of equality, but he asked a fundamental question of equality to whom? We proceeded to note that we need different concepts of power. A western concept proceeds from the top down, with power used to dominate and oppress. In contrast, for example, the Zapatistas in Mexico do not want to assume state power. Instead, they follow a principle of "mandar obediciendo" (roughly translated, lead by following community orders). In this model, power comes from below and breaks existing metaphors of power.

Roberto "Tito" Espinoza (Movimiento Raiz) built on Montoya's concepts to argue that rather than presenting vanguard ideologies we need to build horizontal discussions between organizations to build an alternative radical democracy.

Leonel Cerruto (Kawsay) argued that democratic concepts were born out of a context in which slavery was flourishing, and that we need to build our own ideas of these concepts. A problem with academics is that they receive an intellectual formation from the external world. He argued that it is most important for us to decolonize ourselves mentally and spiritually.

This discussion continued in the afternoon in NIGD's panel "How to deepen democracy in the World Social Forum." Rather than presenting formal papers, Teivo Teivainen and Anibal Quijano launched a conversation by throwing out several ideas on democracy and its role in the WSF.

Quijano noted how an overwhelming presence of participants from lower and working classes at the WSF in Mumbai in January 2004 fundamentally changed the flavor from that of earlier forum at Porto Alegre. He built off of this to make three main points: 1) the WSF is open but not neutral; 2) the WSF has a global impact, but how does it respond to that influence?; and 3) an emerging split with the division between having space in the WSF as just talk vs. a place for action. This final point was particularly visible in the Resistencia Mumbai 2004 which advocated more militant rhetoric as well as issuing of specific position statements. Quijano saw a reflection of this movement in the presentation of Quito Resistance 2004. Although this later group did not have a very visible or significant presence at the ASF, Quijano argued that it is important to invite them into the forum and to debate these important issues.

Teivo Teivainen followed up on Quijano's ideas with the question whether the WSF is practicing what it preaches. He criticized the depolitization of the forum that ignores power dynamics, and those that contend that it does not have to be democratized because it is not an organization. Furthermore, he challenged the idea that the WSF is only a space for talk and not for action. For example, as an issue of policy the WSF does not issue position statements but the February 15, 2003 anti-war protests came out of organizing at the WSF. This presents a classic example of the WSF acting without speaking, a reverse of how it is normally seen as behaving. Nevertheless, the WSF needs to develop better responses as to how to make a better world or it risks losing its legitimization.

Americas Social Forum

NIGD's panels took place in the context of the Americas Social Forum, a five-day gathering at the end of July 2004 of more than 10,000 people representing social movements throughout the hemisphere. It was designed as a regional meeting of the World Social Forum that has met opposite the gathering of neoliberal advocates at World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, in January for the past four years. The ASF was organized around 5 main themes. These included examining the economic order, including human and environmental impoverishment, debts, corruption and alternatives; the violent face of the neoliberal project, with its imperial hegemony, militarism, and sexist violence; power, democracy and the state; cultures and communication; and Indigenous peoples and African descendants.

As in the WSF, a main overriding theme that could be felt throughout the Forum were criticisms of neoliberal economic models, with attacks particularly directed against the Free Trade Area of the Americas FTAA, or ALCA in Spanish), the Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), and other Free Trade Agreements (FTAs or TLCs in Spanish). With the United States and economic elites moving forward with these trade pacts in the face of massive popular opposition, it is clear that these elites have not given up on their strategic plans to dominate the continent through economic, military, and political means with a resulting devastation of national sovereignty, the environment, and human rights.

Discussions in the second theme on militarism focused on the war in Iraq, ongoing human rights violations in Colombia, as well as challenges to the militarization of the "triple border" between Argentina, Brazil, and Paraguay that the U.S. has accused of being a focal point of terrorist cells. Participants strengthened networks to fight against the presence of foreign (especially U.S.) military bases, and celebrated victories such as the removal of the U.S. naval bases from Vieques, Puerto Rico last year.

Participants in the third theme on power and democracy strove to create open and pluralistic spaces for young people, peasants, women, Indians, GLTB, and members of other social movements to construct a common agenda to defend diversity. Democracy cannot be just a promise, but a method for realizing these goals. Within this theme, there was also extensive discussion concerning defending the rights of immigrants as well as addressing underlying economic, political, and human factors which trigger those processes. With increasing urbanization, there are also pressing issues in cities that need to be addressed.

Under the theme "another communication is possible," media activists debated how to assure that access to the means of communication is recognized and preserved as a fundamental human right. Civil society, participants contended, needs to recognize access to the media as a right worth fighting for and defending. The Forum reflected a growing awareness of the importance of information in building alternative democratic models.

The final theme on Indigenous peoples and African descendants focused largely on persistent issues of racism, poverty, and exclusion, as well as alternative proposals such as that to build multiethnic and multinational societies. Given that neoliberal policies often have a most intense impact on these populations, a complete rejection of free trade agreements was also ever-present in their discussions. Afro-Venezuelan representative Jorge Veloz summarized these debates by noting that "the construction of this other possible world comes through respect, dialogue, and inter-culturalism."

Over 800 civil society organizations organized almost 500 events, ranging from panels, conferences, roundtables, seminars, and workshops. As at the World Social Forum, the topics ranged widely beyond key themes of economic neoliberalism and militarism. In particular, gender, sexuality, youth, environmental, and food sovereignty issues held a large presence at the meeting. An artisan market provided food and handicrafts from a variety of fair trade organizations. Indymedia Ecuador organized a "Memory and Rebellion" documentary film festival which featured the Ecuadorian premiere of Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11. Venezuela solidarity activists constructed a solidarity tent, and pro-Hugo Chavez (who faced a recall referendum on August 15) chants regularly echoed through meetings.

On Wednesday afternoon, July 28, two of Ecuador's largest Indigenous organizations, CONAIE and Ecuarunari, organized a march for life and against the FTAA and free trade agreements. Just before the march a heavy rain shower soaked the city, cooling the air and cleaning out the pollution that now hangs heavily over the city. The result was ideal conditions for a march which snaked past the U.S. Embassy and through the streets of the city. Although not listed in the official ASF program, it was obviously a coordinated event. While Indigenous movements led the march, it reflected the broad diversity of issues presented at the Forum including those of gender, sexuality, youth groups, leftist political parties, environmental groups, and peasant issues.

Although only a tenth of the size of the World Social Forum that now gathers more than 100,000 activists, the ASF had very much the flavor of the Porto Alegre gatherings. Unlike Mumbai which drew heavily on dispossessed sectors, many of the participants in Quito came from youth groups and NGO sectors. Although designed as a hemispheric meeting, people from more than 45 countries including those on the continents of Europe, Asia, Africa attended the meeting. This provided an international flavor beyond what might be expected for a regional meeting.

The Forum ended Friday evening, July 20, with a large closing ceremony with folklore dances from Bolivia and Ecuador, Cuban and Ecuador music groups, and the waving of ASF, Venezuelan, and Cuban flags, as well as the rainbow flag representative of both Indigenous and gay-rights movements. Juan Meriguet read a powerful and moving letter from his mother Nela Martinez, a leading communist militant and feminist who had died that morning in Havana, Cuba. At 92 years old, she remained a deeply committed activist to the end, and presented a symbol to those gathered at the forum.

Some observers have noted that the WSF has become so large so as to be unmanageable. The success of the ASF at Quito and its similarities to the Porto Alegre meetings lends a certain validity to proposals to alternate between global and regional meetings.

Cumbre de Pueblos Indigenas

Several meetings were held parallel and in conjunction with the Americas Social Forum, including a youth camp, a gathering of local authorities, urban activists, and a summit of Indigenous peoples and nationalities. It was largely because of the strength of Indigenous-based social movements and the power they have lent to anti-neoliberal struggles that the Americas Social Forum was held in Quito. At present, however, Indigenous movements in Ecuador are deeply divided. The country's current president Lucio Gutierrez first came to prominence when as a military officer he allied with Indigenous leaders in a January 21, 2000 coup that overthrew the government of Jamil Mahuad that was implementing neoliberal reforms including imposing the U.S. dollar as legal tender. Almost three years later, Gutierrez was elected president of the country largely on the basis of support of his Indigenous allies. He subsequently, however, implemented many of the same neoliberal reforms he had previously opposed. This led part of the Indigenous movement to leave his government accusing him of being a traitor to the people, and part of the movement remaining with the government believing that it could work with him.

The divided and weakened nature of the movement was apparent both at the Indigenous Summit, and in the broader ASF events. Two of the main groups, CONAIE and Ecuarunari, led the organization of both events, while two other groups, FENOCIN and FEINE were largely absent while they held parallel events.

Meeting from July 21 to 25, discussions at the Second Continental Summit of the Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities of Abya Yala (the Americas), 300 delegates debated ten themes. These included land rights; autonomy and self-determination; diversity and plurinationality; intellectual property rights; relations with multilateral organizations; the role of Indigenous peoples in the World Social Forum; gender and the role of women; political participation; militarization; and communication.

A final statement, the Kito Declaration, strongly condemned neoliberalism and the role of multinational corporations. These entities, the statement notes, "are disregarding our collective rights to our land, changing legislation to allow privatization, corporative alliances, and individual appropriation." In response, the delegates resolved to work to create an agenda and alliances to confront these oppressive policies. They declared an unalienable right to their territory, and the legitimization of their own models to govern those autonomous spaces. Finally, and echoing a theme found throughout the Forum, they expressed solidarity with Hugo Chavez and the Venezuelan people in the face of United States imperialist aggression.

More information:
http://www.forosocialamericas.org/.
http://www.cumbreindigenabyayala.org/.