arch/ive/ief (2000 - 2005)

There were three marches in the opening of the WSF in Porto Alegre
by Australiano Intrometido Saturday February 02, 2002 at 03:19 PM

esterday in Porto Alegre the Forum Social Mundial begun. The initial kick was the marches organized. The first march, the official forum one, was organised by political parties and by organizations participating in the forum. Following the same style of party marches it involved a gigantic dispute between flags of different parties, sound trucks and banners.

Yesterday in Porto Alegre the Forum Social Mundial begun. The initial kick was the marches organized. The first march, the official forum one, was organised by political parties and by organizations participating in the forum. Following the same style of party marches it involved a gigantic dispute between flags of different parties, sound trucks and banners.
The second was a march organised by the Youth Camp. It begun after the mother of activist Carlo Giulliani (killed in the protests against the G8 at Genoa) spoke in one of the tents of the camp. They left the march behind a sound-car until meeting the official march of the forum and continued with that march to the shows and parties marking the opening of the WSF.

The third marhc was organised mostly by anarchists and non-party groups connected to the Global People?s Action (Ação Global dos Povos). It was a march independent of the WSF. It also left the Youth Camp and followed up to the main concentration of the official march. From there people in the ?Rebel?s March? (as it was called by the organizers) left the official march and walked to an abandoned house were they had the intention of creating a temporary autonomous zone. In this space there would be several events such as talks, workshops, debates, theatre, etc? It was a proposal for another forum. The activists of the ?Rebel?s March? are not against the World Social Forum , but against the way it is organised. For this reason they would organise an alternative to the WSF.

When the three marches met in the centre of Porto Alegre there were some tense moments. A sound truck which would lead the official forum march was blocked by the rebels march for some minutes. After this the activists decided to open the way. Soon afterwards some members of the PT begun pushing the activists from the rebel march, even bashing a girl who was in the frontal line of shields. After this incident the shields advanced, opening a path through the Petistas. For some minutes the tensions ran very high, but the protesters preferred not to begin a confrontation.