Call
of the World Social Movements
Porto Alegre,
Brazil - January 27th, 2003
We are meeting
in Porto Alegre in the shadow of a global crisis. The belligerent intentions
of the United States government in its determination to launch a war
on Iraq pose a grave threat to us all, and are a dramatic manifestation
of the links between militarism and economic domination.
At the same
time, neo-liberal globalization itself is in crisis: the threat of a
global recession is ever present ; corporate corruption scandals are
daily news and expose the reality of capitalism.
Social and economic
inequalities are growing, threatening the social structures of our societies
and cultures, our rights and our lives.
Bio diversity, air, water, forest, soil and sea are used like commodities
and are for sale. All this threatens our common future.
We oppose this !
For our common
future
We are social
movements that are fighting all around the world against neo-liberal
globalization, war, racism, casteism, religious fanaticism, poverty,
patriarchy and all the forms of economical, ethnical, social, political,
cultural, sexual and gender discriminations and exclusions. We are all
fighting for social justice, citizenship, participatory democracy, universal
rights and for the right of peoples to decide their own future.
We stand for
peace and international cooperation, for a sustainable society answering
the needs of people for food, housing, health, education, information,
water, energy, public transportation and human rights.
We are in solidarity
with the women engaged against social and patriarchal violence. We support
the struggle of the peasants, workers, popular urban movements and all
those who are urgently threatened by being deprived of homes, jobs,
land and their rights.
We have demonstrated
in millions to say that another world is possible.
This has never been more true and more urgent.
No war!
The social movements
are against militarization, the increase of military bases and state
repression that create countless refugees and the criminalization of
social movements and poor people.
We are against
the war on Iraq, the attacks on the Palestinian, Chechnya and Kurdish
people, the wars on Afghanistan, Colombia, in Africa and the growing
threat of war on Korea. We oppose the economic and political aggression
against Venezuela and the political and economic embargo by the US government
against Cuba, and elsewhere. We are against all kinds of military and
economic actions designed to impose the neo-liberal model and undermine
the sovereignty and peace of peoples around the world.
War has become
a structural and permanent part of global domination using military
force to control people and strategic resources such as oil. The United
States´ government and its allies are imposing war as a more and
more common solution for resolving conflicts. We also denounce the deliberate
attempts made by imperialists to increase religious, ethnic, racist,
tribal and other tensions and strife all over the world in order to
pursue their selfish interests.
Majority of
public opinion around the world is opposed to the coming war on Iraq.
We call on all social movements and progressive forces to support, participate
in and organize worldwide protests on February 15th 2003. These protests
are already planned and coordinated by all those who oppose the war
in over 30 major cities around the world.
Derail WTO
The World Trade
Organization (WTO), the Free Trade Area of the Americas (FTAA) and a
proliferation of regional and bilateral trade agreements, such as the
Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) and the proposed Central America
free trade agreements, are used by multinational corporations to promote
their interests, to dominate and control our economies and to impose
a development model which impoverishes our societies. In the name of
trade liberalization, every aspect of life and nature is for sale and
people are denied their basic rights. Agro-multinationals are trying
to impose GMOs worldwide; people suffering from HIV/AIDS and other pandemics
in Africa and elsewhere are denied access to cheap generic drugs. In
addition, countries of the South are trapped in a never-ending cycle
of debt that forces them to open up their markets and export their wealth.
In the coming
year our campaigns, against the WTO, the FTAA and trade liberalization,
will grow in size and scope.
We will campaign
to stop and reverse liberalization of agriculture, water, energy, public
services and investment, and to reassert peoples sovereignty over their
societies, their resources, their cultures and knowledge and their economies.
We are in solidarity
with the Mexican land workers who say el campo no aguanta mas
(the fields are fed up) and in the spirit of their struggles
we will mobilize locally, nationally and internationally to derail the
WTO and the FTAA. We support the worldwide movement to fight for food
sovereignty and against the neo-liberal models of agriculture, food
production and distribution. In particular, we will organize mass protests
around the world during the 5th ministerial meeting of the WTO in Cancun,
Mexico, in September 2003 and during the ministerial meeting of the
FTAA in Miami, USA, in October.
Cancel the
Debt
The full and
unconditional cancellation of Third World Debt constitutes a prerequisite
condition in order to fulfill even the most basic human rights. We shall
support any indebted country that would stop its external debt payment
and would break its agreements with the IMF, especially the Structural
Adjustment Programs. Centuries of exploitation of the Third World people,
their resources and environment have given them the right to reparations.
We ask who owes whom? These issues will be raised in the
major campaigns being held in 2003, G8 (Evian/June), WTO (Cancun/September)
and the IMF and Word Bank annual meeting (Washington/September).
Opposing
the G8
We call on all
the social movements and progressive forces to be part of the mobilization
to denounce the illegitimacy and to also reject the policies of the
G8 that will be meeting in Evian, France, from 1-3 June 2003. This mobilization
will also be organized all around the world with an international gathering
at Evian (France) that will include an alternative summit, alternative
camp and a huge international demonstration.
Women: promoting
equality
We are part
of the actions promoted by womens movements on 8th March which
is the International Womens Day to fight against all forms of
violence and patriarchy and for social and political equality.
In solidarity
We call for
solidarity from all progressive social forces, movements and organizations
across the world for those peoples such as the Palestinian, Venezuelan,
Bolivian, and Cuban (that fight against the US embargo) and others who
are facing extreme crisis and are fighting against imperialist hegemony
at this very moment in time.
Enhance Our
International Network
Last year during
the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre we had adopted a declaration
that defines our aims, our struggles and the ways we build our alliances.
The spirit of this text is still living and will inspire our coming
mobilizations.
Since then,
the world has been changing very quickly and we feel the need to take
a new step in our decision-making processes, in our coordinations and
alliances; the need to promote a broad, radical, democratic, plural,
internationalist, feminist, non-discriminatory and anti-imperialist
agenda.
We now want
to build a framework articulating our analyses and commitments to our
mobilizations. This requires the active participation of all the movements,
keeping in mind that the social forums are independent from governments
and political parties (as given in the WSF Charter of Principles) and
keeping a respect for their autonomy. This framework would be strengthened
by all different social actors contributing and sharing their experiences
and concrete social practices. Further, this would be in accordance
with the different forms of political expression and organization of
the social movements and with regard to the diversity of ideologies
and cultures.
We feel the
need to constitute a network of movements that is responsive, flexible
and sustainable ; yet is also broad and transparent. Its responsibilities
should be to enrich and feed the process, to promote its diversity and
to assume the necessary degree of coordination. The aims of the network
will be to enhance the engagement of movements around the world in a
deeper political debate, to facilitate common action and to strengthen
the initiative of concrete actors fighting for social interests. Its
work should be both horizontal and effective.
To this end
we propose to build a contact group as a resource and tool for our international
mobilizations, including preparing meetings, promoting debate and democracy
by promoting a website and mailing lists. This contact group would be
established for a period of between six and twelve months and it will
be drawn on the past experience of the supporters of the network of
social and popular movements that are based in Brazil.
This arrangement
is transitional and to ensure continuity. The main task of this provisory
group is to facilitate debate so that the social movements around the
world define concrete procedures to work together. It is an ongoing
process. A first review of the new contact group will take place at
meetings of the network of social movements during the mass mobilization
against the WTO in Cancun in Sept 2003. A second review, again in assemblies
of the network of social movements, will follow during the WSF meeting
that is expected to be held in India in 2004.
Among other
things, the reviews will consider the effectiveness of the coordination
and seek new ways to enhance it. It will also consider how to proceed
from one year to the next, and how to include national, regional movements
and thematic campaigns. In the meantime, we need a large debate among
organizations, campaigns and networks to articulate the proposals for
a more permanent and representative structure.
In the months
to come we will have many occasions to experiment, improve and build
this process through our campaigns and mobilizations.