First Florence Update: ESF Programme in full

by bolini@arci.it - http://www.arci.it Tue Nov 05, 2002 17:25

Dear friends,
the ESF is confirmed.

Despite the last attempt of the Prime Minister Berlusconi to suspend,
postpone or move the Forum from Florence, today the Council of Ministers
decided not to do it. The ESF will take place as planned.

It is the result of the strong reactions and democratic resistance of
the movement and of all the democratic forces in Italy and Europe.

It is also the result of a division inside the Government: many of them
prefer not to take the responsability to suspend the ESF, and to put
all responsability on the shoulder of the movement, of the local
authorities, of the democratic forces. They hope to see violence and
devastation in Florence, in order to destroy our credibility.

So, we are sure they will go on creating tense, and we will have to be
very careful in order not to come in their trap. We will find time to
discuss it in Florence, in our Coordination meeting.

We go on preparing the ESF.

Concerning the borders, we confirm Shengen agreement is not suspended.
So, you have to bring with you only the normal documents you use in
normal times.

We confirm, in the same time, the application of article 2 comma 2 of
the Schengen Treaty: that's means they will restore borders police
control.

We will send at the borders lawers and parlamentarians and groups of
observers. The Government told officially they will not use this measure
in order to stop delegation, but we want to be sure.....

Let us know when you'll arrive, where, your contact persons. Give us
please a list of parlamentarians or prominent persons who will come with
you: it can help in case of problems....

See you in Florence! Ciao

The Italians

by christophe aguiton Tue Nov 05, 2002 17:31

Dear friends,

Sunday 10th afternoon and monday 11th, we'll have an
international meeting of social movement, with the
delegations from Europe who want to be part of, and
the delagations from Asia, America and Africa.
We'll discuss the situation of the mobilisations in
these continents, the next appointments, and the
preparation of the social movement assembly of the
WSF, in Porto Alegre, next January.
To introduce this discussion, you have, en English and
Spanish, a short text with a proposal of an
international netwok of the social movements.

This international meeting will be in the same place
than the European social movement assembly :
Stazione Leopolda /Piazzale di Porta a Prato / Firenze

PS : une version française du texte sera envoyée
prochainement

_________________________________________

BUILDING A SOCIAL MOVEMENTS WORLD NETWORK

ORIGINS
During the first World Social Forum, more than a
thousand people representing hundreds of social
movements, NGOs and trade unions of the whole world
gathered in a common assembly and, with a feeling of
strong unity, approved the "Porto Alegre Call of the
Social Movements for Mobilization". (1) This was a
unique and important moment.

The World Social Forum provides spaces, agendas and
conditions for all organizations opposed to
neo-liberalism to come together, to debate and to
propose. The Forum as a whole does not assume specific
positions or actions, but neither is it neutral, as
shown in the WSF charter of principles and in the
programming of the conferences. Regarding the matter
of statements, declarations and actions, participants
are free to organize in order to articulate
initiatives in their own name, as long as it's not
confused with the WSF role.

This was the spirit of the 2001 Porto Alegre "Call of
the Social Movements" which, after a series of
discussions and debates evaluating the consequences of
the neo-liberal policies across the world, called on
the social movement to mobilize against a series of
institutional events in the year ahead, such as the
annual meetings of the World Bank and IMF, the
ministerial meeting of the WTO and the G8 Summit in
Genoa.

Building on the Porto Alegre process, there was an
international meeting of social movements in August
2001 in Mexico City, following the Congress of the
Latin American Confederation of Rural Organizations
(CLOC). This meeting, called by CUT and MST of Brazil,
ATTAC-France and Focus on the Global South/Thailand,
strengthened the decisions of Porto Alegre 2001 and
gave us the opportunity to debate and construct
proposals taking considering the political, language
and cultural differences of the participants.

The second World Social Forum in January 2002 was the
first great international event opposing neo-liberal
globalization after September 11. It was a tremendous
success, bringing together more than 50,000 people
from across the world and demonstrating deep
commitment to the work of building international
resistance and solidarity. Again in 2002, hundreds of
social movements, NGOs and trade unions met over five
days to prepare a common call for action. The second
call of the social movements (2) emphasized the rise
of militarism and our opposition to war, as well as
highlighting the failures of neo-liberal capitalism
demonstrated by Argentina's economic and political
crisis and the collapse of the US corporation, Enron.

At this time, the MST and the CUT volunteered to
establish a secretariat to help coordinate
preparations for the social movements meetings in the
coming year and during the 2003 World Social Forum.

The secretariat has proposed that we initiate a debate
on how the social movements that started to come
together in Porto Alegre could move in the direction
of a more permanent articulation, while clearly
preserving the differences between this initiative and
the WSF.

This suggestion is now being framed as a proposal to
establish a "Social Movements World Network". The
process is in its first stages and the purpose of this
paper is to engage many different groups in a regional
and global discussion about this idea and to establish
a process that takes advantage of the upcoming
regional and thematic events promoted by the WSF.

Before drafting this document, some of these ideas
were raised at the Asian Social Movements meeting held
in Bangkok 10-12 August and the World Summit on
Sustainable Development in Johannesburg in August
2002, where a meeting of social movements was called.
Other meetings to discuss this proposal are scheduled
for Quito, Ecuador, during the mobilizations against
the FTAA; in Florence, Italy, during the European
Social Forum; in Belém during the Amazonian Social
Forum and in Hyderabad, India, during the Asian Social
Forum. Depending on the evolution and outcome of the
debates we intend to call for a grand assembly in
Porto Alegre to conclude discussions and adopt
resolutions.

THE HISTORICAL MOMENT
To constitute a minimum base for a social movements
world network, it is necessary to have a clear
perspective of the historical moment in which we are
living.

The failure of neo-liberal economic policies to
promote economic and social justice has weakened the
consensus on the "Washington Consensus". At the same
time, the multilateral institutions promoting
structural adjustment, trade and financial
liberalization, especially the WTO, IMF and World
Bank, are rapidly losing their legitimacy.

Simultaneously, we are experiencing a tremendous rise
in public opposition to neo-liberal policies in both
the South and the North and the internationalization
of the social movements, trade unions and NGOs
opposing these policies and working for social and
economic justice. At the same time, though, many of
the "traditional social movements" and political
parties, especially in the North, are facing a crisis
as they struggle to develop new strategies, structures
and approaches in response to a very dynamic and
complex situation.

The rise of unilateralism, the war in Afghanistan, the
establishment of new US military bases in the
Philippines and other parts of Asia and the
belligerent threats against Iraq, are all attempts to
reinforce the domination of the big countries of the
North, in particular the United States. In Latin
America, the US military presence is growing under the
pretext of the "war on drugs" and in all parts of the
world, the "war on terror" has provoked the violation
of basic political and civil rights and a rise in
fear, xenophobia and racism. This, too, is giving rise
to new alliances and convergences between social
movements, trade unions and NGOs in the South and
North and highlighting the links between
militarization and globalized capitalism.

Economically, the global system is undergoing a severe
crisis of overproduction and declining profits,
resulting in massive lay-offs, corporate restructuring
and a collapse in share prices. In this context,
corruption at the highest level of corporate America
is now coming to light, as are the intimate links
between US capital and the US administration.

Democracy itself is under threat. Vibrant and dynamic
democracies give us hope, yet in many countries elite
democracies or dictatorships prevail. In others, voter
turn-out is at an all-time low and fascist and
fundamentalist political parties are able to
capitalize on economic and social marginalization.
Internationally, the United Nations system - which for
many is the last hope of inter-state democracy - is
ineffective and powerless, as witnessed in
Johannesburg during the World Summit on Sustainable
Development (WSSD) where the agenda of people-centered
sustainable development was hi-jacked by the needs of
corporate-centered economic growth.

THE PROPOSAL TO CONSTITUTE A SOCIAL MOVEMENTS WORLD
NETWORK
The world is changing very quickly and we need new
structures, decision-making processes and new
formations to articulate and drive a radical
democratic, internationalist and anti-imperialist
agenda.

This requires the constitution of a network of
movements that is squarely in defense of democracy and
peace and that is broad, plural, feminist and anti
neo-liberal. We need a movement that is independent of
political parties, that respects the autonomy of the
organizations constituting the movement and is
non-ideological. That does not mean, though, that it
is not political.

During the 2001 and 2002 World Social Forums,
assemblies of social movements adopted resolutions
articulating common analyses and committing common
mobilizations. These assemblies were open to all
delegates at the WSF and the agreements were
constructed collectively and endorsed by mass
assemblies.

During the WSF 2003, we propose to discuss the
creation of the Social Movements World Network. This
proposal is a clear indication of our willingness to
build a common framework as a reference and as a tool
for our international mobilizations, however such a
proposal can only succeed with the engagement of
movements from around the world in discussions and
debates.

WHY DO WE NEED A SOCIAL MOVEMENTS WORLD NETWORK?
A Social Movements World Network would help us develop
the conditions so that the diverse social movements of
the world can exchange analyses, opinions and
information on the present conjuncture and establish
some shared priorities and necessary tasks, before and
after the meetings of the WSF. The debate, interchange
and coordination between us could then become a more
permanent process.

The objective is to go beyond episodic encounters
among the movements of the diverse countries and
continents, to construct a deeper political debate, to
establish horizontal structures to facilitate
exchanges and common actions and to extend the reach
of the movements in all the continents.

This demands at least the establishment of a minimum
coordination and exchange of information through a web
site, e-mail and the Secretariat (3).

DEBATING THE PROPOSAL FROM HERE TO PORTO ALEGRE
In the lead-up to the 2003 WSF, we will organize
meetings during the regional and thematic forums
listed above to debate this proposal. We will then
carry the conclusions and proposals from these
meetings into Porto Alegre itself, so that the final
assembly is the accumulated result of a process
involving movements from around the world, and not
only those in Porto Alegre.

The Secretariat has built a data bank of the
organizations and networks that signed the manifestos
of 2001 and 2002, but it is necessary to identify
other social movements, unions, NGOs and organizations
that should be brought into the initiative.

We have prepared this document to provoke debate and
discussion on the proposal to build a Social Movements
World Network in the many regional events taking place
before the next WSF, when the assembly of social
movements, NGOs and trade unions will be asked to
adopt a final position on the proposal.

CUT - Brazil, MST - Brazil, World March of Women -
Quebec, ATTAC - France and Focus on the Global South -
Thailand. (3)

(1) Attach 2001 call
(2) Attach 2002 call
(3) The role of the signatories of this document is
nothing more than to promote its discussion and we
assume not have been given any other mandate.