ANARCHIST MEETING AGAINST CAPITALIST GLOBALIZATION

Considerings about the 2nd edition of World Social Forum (WSF) - Porto Alegre, 31st of january to 5th of february, 2002, Brasil.

This message contains:

2) WSF 2002: the old projects to reform a system that just serves for nothing to the people

3) A Libertarian Alternative: proposes for an international anarquist intervention

4) Pre-project "Anarchist Meetings" of Porto Alegre 2002

Dear comrades and companions from the brazilian and international libertarian movement:

We, the Federação Anarquista Gaúcha (Gaúcha's Anarchist Federation, FAG) wants to expose through this communication some reflections about the characteristics and the proposals that motivated the WSF, as well as the will to unite forces to coordinate a powerfull anarchist intervention during the week of the event, in Porto Alegre, state capital of Rio Grande do Sul (RS). This town is one of the territories that our Federation is based and we would like to suggest some propositions to programme an activity (all-week long) that might project the strongest-ideas of the libertarian socialism to the worldwide public. It is estimated that 100 thousand persons are coming to Porto Alegre because of the WSF. It is right that this circumstances will offer us the possibilities to join the protests that will happen during those days.

It is necessary to comment that in the 1st edition of WSF (WSF - 2001) the FAG, acting togehter with some other fellow brazilian organizations, took a very cryctical position about the event.

We have dedicated, in the 1st edition, much of our effort to the propaganda and to coordinate direct actions with some other more radical left organizations. We directly took part on the anti-capitalist block intervention that occurred in the Catholic University (PUC) saloon, (official headquarter and space of WSF's convention), when was presented the collective statement that pointed the incapacity of any social-democrat project, and its so-called mechanisms of humanitarian capitalist management, to soluting the social, economical and environment essential problems all derived from the structures of domination.

In the 1st event, when it was possible, we organized a debate in a public and opened local, with the participation of the Uruguayan Anarchist Federation (FAU), and the General Workers Confederation (CGT, Spain), besides many brazilian comrades from other states and regions. A quite significant crowd has been in those debates and have a good participation. Nevertheless, besides all of the efforts, we analized that it was possible to occupy the WSF with a more strong and powerfull political presence in the perspective of propaganda of a very militant anarquism and the basic principles and mechanisms of the anarquist revolutionary project.

It is possible, starting from some determinned political and material conditions, to spread to all-over the worldwide-net that will be plugged on the WSF the vitality of our guide-ideas and the real and concrete realizations that are unseparables. It may be a huge opportunity to affirm the anarchist ideology as an alternative to the opressed classes struggle against capitalist domination and its liberal or statists globalitarian versions. Those are the reasons we exposed for making this communicate the starting point for the libertarian movement to, in an international level, articulate and join forces to intervene in the WSF 2002.

2) WSF - 2002: The old projects to reform a system that serves for nothing to the people.

The WSF is a product of a world-wide political, social and institutional forces articulation, summed to a class-aliance that includes even the so-called "progressive" capitalists businessmen. This specifical forces composition, that with no coincidence is united under the umbrella-tradition of Workers Party (PT) administrations (both the town, Porto Alegre, and the state, Rio Grande do Sul), in the words of the WSF organizers, has the objective of making a "propositive struggle" against neoliberalism.

Because of the evident signs of weakeness of the neoliberal model, the ideologues of WSF - 2002 are trying hard to achieve a worldwide class-aliance that has as its strategical goal to promote and forward execute, a world-wide social-democrat project. This project should implement an effective alternative to manage the capitalist system through a "new management rationalization". To achieve this goal, the social-democrat project must show its own capability to produce wellfare and good conditions to the major social sectors who are the direct victims of the nowadays ruling class and the opression of capitalism.

Does anybody knows a better propaganda than a local capitalist government (like PT is in Porto Alegre and Rio Grande do Sul) administrating the system through a well-made social-democrat programme being held in a 3rd world, underdevelopped, poor and latin-american country? This party and its allies are trying to build a reference of a "possible capitalism" through their own experience and Popular Front (Frente Popular) administration in the south of Brasil. They are in harmony of some other "humanitarian capitalist state-administration". By this way, there are conditions of a new international relationships in a Front to impose that project: the arrival of a neo-reformism, that is promoted on the base of 3rd world misery and the expressions of popular disaggreement (and resistance) with neoliberalism.

The rational propositive that WSF - 2002 defends since its birth, reserves the condition of not-promoting popular direct action against the economical-finance institutions who represents the symbols and the exercise of a centralized global power. The fact is, the dynamic of conflicts who comes from those methods of demonstrations could throw the state government police (PT) in a situation of repressing their own guests. The year of 2002 faces presidential and state-governors elections; in this scenario, Porto alegre and Rio Grande do Sul symbolize the project of a reformist left-wing in portions of capitalist government.

Their possible government platform is; the control of volatile finantial capitals that speculates in periferic countries and "drinks" higher taxes of interests; the improove of a national and productive capital, of small and medium businessman combined with a productive presence of the Transnationals Corps. in a 3rd world country; the preservation of public services that rests after a large and huge cycle of privatizations; policies to recover the national-state sovereignty through the improove of the legal representation system and some mechanisms of popular consulte; creating links between the state-repression and the poor-communities; the instruction of human rights to police forces; incentivating the self-made-men inititiatives for work and gains; through all of those guide-lines they start to define a model of capitalist development that will be proposed by a "more mature left-wing", with consciousness of their institutional responsibilities. Just to give an example of what we are expressing, the cancell of the external and internal debt of 3rd countries is a subject more and more prohibited by the reformist sectors. They allegate that this subject may start a disruption of confidence from the elites to a legalized left - preserving essential conditions of governability. And, we must be shure they valorize this elite confidence a lot.

In the dispute of presentation of political projects to the society, is just where the WSF 2002 will try to arrange its space to formulate and propose. The center of the debate are the models of development, or the ways to conduct the government resources to allow some general wellfare. From the reformist side, the capitalist institutions are accepted as players, the dominance relations that makes possible capitalism are not contested and for the whole system that is feeded by misery, hunger and submission, on their point of view, it is just necessary some "medications" that changes nothing of capitalist essence.

The almost 3 years of govern in Rio Grande do Sul shows to us in what is transformed the so-called "soft-left good will" when the PT assumes the capitalist executive: that their policies will surrender to strongest forces of conservation that exists in state institutions and slow by slow adquire the profile of total political surrender. The social-wellfare measures are all-submitted to bureacratic limitations. The finantial institutions and Corps. keeps maintaining the same power and influence. The public services workers suffers with low-salaries that is just the same of right-wing administrations. This example is applied to public school teachers, state-employees, just two of the social bases that were more committed to PT election. The police maintain the same level of aggression measures and procedures when defending the right of property, against the tactics of occupying public buildings held by the No-Land Peasants Movement (MST, Sem-Terra), against Homeless Movements or when insulting the youth. By the way, we can sum the the ridiculous superior order that obligates the police to hang-on the telephone saying this salute: "popular and democratic government, Hello".
In the actual international scenario of capitalist globalization, the chances of an independent burgueois national development, of a class aliance in a determined country, those measures with some level of influence and independance over state policies, those chances are allmost zero. The interests of Transnational Corps. that resultes in their productive plants all over the world or their finantial investments created a world-wide dependance between the countries, and no coincidence, this influence is more strong in the southern hemisphere countries. On the other hand, the multilateral economical-finantial institutions policies, truelly administrative displays of corporate interests and imperialists policies of a select group of states (in eg: the G-7), constitutes the powers that be who do have the real influence on the national politics. In the case of some more drastic cases and measures, there is the full-attention of USA and its allies, with a huge military complex, always with some pretext to act: war on drugs, fighting terrorism or "humanitarian aid".

This is the general aspects that involves WSF -2002 and is motivating its activities. The elections in Brasil, 2002 will determine the definition of public stances that will be assumed by the legal left-wing parties who always take part in the liberal and capitalist mechanisms of representative burgueois democracy. The participation of class organizations, the whole of people's movements that will be composing the same political space, will be for sure engaged in creating the social-democrat project. Just this project that anule the independance of the opressed classes and their organizations, just because the hegemonical reformists tendencies acts in plans of "winning the capitalist govern", made a strategical option of spreading the electoral base without considering the class-consciousness level of struggle, which is obvious the most indispensable condition to deeply change a society.

It is possible that some social-movement, with bigger capacity of action, may question (even partially) those proposes. But the integration of those movements with the state administration of Rio Grande do Sul is still very strong. This happens because of the history of brazilian left and also because of the very effective mechanisms of dependance that are built to maintain the social-movements under state-control.

3 - The Libertarian Alternative: propositions for an international anarquist intervention

Comrades and companions, as we have been saying, we consider the WSF 2002 an appropriate circumstance to divulgate the guide-ideas of the militant anarquism, remembering that those ideas are and must be confronted to the nowadays social-historic process and its moment of capitalist globalization. We want to invite all anarquist organizations that has the intention to come to Porto Alegre from 31st january to 5th of february to take part in the Anarquist Meetings that we intend to organize. This will be a paralell event that should organize political debates and expositions, music, theatre, etc; all the activities will be oriented to the public of WSF.

The official organization and schedule of WSF 2002 is divided in the official delegates conference (during the morning), the debates workshops of political parties and social movements (during the afternoon) and more debates with common people and guests of the event (during afetrnoon too). In the 1st day will occur the March of the members of WSF. Because we have no interest in taking part oin the official WSF, , all morinings would be the right time for our Meetings, all but the 1st one, when will take place the demosntration.

During september 2001, we had meetings with FAU (Uruguay) and with regional brazilian organizations (Libertarian Struggle - Coletivo Luta Libertária, São Paulo; Rupture - Ruptura, Rio de Janeiro; Cabocla Anarquist Federation - FACA, Pará) with which we fixed an effort coordination to this objective, the Anarquist Meetings event. We also decided to communicate with all other anarquists, organized or not in political organizations (like ours), sindicates, small groups, newspapers, bulletins, etc., from Brasil and worldwide; through this communication, to try to know and amplifie the possibilities of joining us in the events, more libertarian comrades and organizations.

There are a bunch of works to be done that would need the support for convocating, communicating and helping to organize the Anarquist Meetings, just in the beggining of january. Some of the works and help we need concerns on propaganda, sound equipment, organizing the physical space, food and the places to sleep. We are making an estimative of costs for all those necessities. Some of those stuffs the FAG may offer because we are based in Porto Alegre and its metropolitan area.

Bellow is a list of our suggestions for the Meetings. We wander to receive contributions and also the name of which subjects and debates the fellow organizations would be interested in taking part, making a more deep exposition and debating.

The only fight lost is the one we don't fight!!!
Health and Anarquy!
General-Secretary of the FAG

4 - Pre-project of the Anarquist Meetings in Porto Alegre, 2002

Name: Jornadas Anarquistas de Porto Alegre, Anarquist Meetings of Porto Alegre, 2002

Date: from january the 1st to february the 5th
Basic Subject: The Actuallity of Libertarian Socialism
Language: Portuguese and Spanish
Everyday period: during the mornings, from 9 to 12 am.
Methodology: oral exposition of comrades and organizations who will be responsable to the debates; after that it will be opened the speechs and interventions

01 of february: Open Day
a) Federação Anarquista Gaúcha (FAG)
b) Publication and reading the messages of adhesions to the event
c) Theatre Intervention

02 of february: The Libertarian Project in confrontation to the World Domination Structures
a) The experience left buy a socialism that failed down
b) Crictics to the totalitarian fenomenum of the State and the Market
c) Terror Strategies for a world in crisis

03 of february: Practices of Resistance to Capitalist Globalization
a) Antiglobalization Movements and Anticapitalist Struggles
b) Latin America: expressions of a people in struggle
c) Experiences of organization of the poor and marginals

04 of february: Contemporary Anarquist Literature Expositions
a) Anarquy and Organization (a recently book published buy the Libertarian Struggle Colective, from são Paulo, it contains texts of Nestor Machnó and the Machnovtschina debate with Malatesta)
b) Power and Domain: an Anarquist Vision (a recently book published buy the comrade Fábio López, from Rio de Janeiro; the author analyses the question of power and anarquism)

c) d) and e) This part is open to other recent published contributions

05 of february - Conclusion
a) International Statements of the Anarquist Meetings
b) Folk and Popular Music intervention

arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)