[en] The Amazon region wants to host the WSF 2009 [pt]Amazônia quer sediar FSM 2009

[en]

Picture: Papelipe

The decision about where the next centralized edition, January 2009, of the World Social Forum will take place should be made by the end of June 2007, during the WSF International council meeting in Berlin.

Organizations and social movements from the Amazon region are mobilized to the initiative of taking to the IC the proposal to host the global event.

In January 2008, the WSF will experience multiple events that will take place in different regions, as a counterpoint to the World Economic Forum, in Davos. This non-centralized edition will be called Global Mobilization Journey and Brazil may organize a big event (probably together with the third edition of the Brazilian Social Forum, in the state of Bahia) and many other meetings or regional manifestations.

The Amazon region’s candidature would aim at the following edition, which would be centralized again. It is a strong alternative to different possibilities that have already been considered, which include Brazilian cities like Porto Alegre and Curitiba. The existence of a supportive articulation to the WSF being hold in Amazonia had been previously mentioned by Paulo Freire Institute’s director of Institutional Relations, Salete Valesan Camba, during an event called Dialogues with Africa, which was organized by different African-Brazilian movements in São Paulo, held after the WSF 2007, in Nairobi.

The idea of having another African edition, which should also be considered by the International Council, might turn out to be a supportive proposal for having an African Social Forum between 2008 and 2009 and, later, start an articulation to have another global event in another African country.

The Amazonian argument

The document, entitled Amazon Region’s Candidature to host the World Social Forum 2009, was addressed to the Brazilian Organizing Committee and to the WSF International Council. It started to circulate on Friday, April 20th, in order to look for support coming from different organizations and also for possible changes on the document. The city suggested to host the event is Belém, in the state of Pará, and the proposing organizations hope that this will not be the only Brazilian candidature.

Gathering nine countries, the Amazon region has already an important place in the worldwide scenario, since it has been the center of global debates about the consequences of global warming, which are result of a non-sustainable use of natural resources.

The most recent Climate Report, produced by UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), which alarmingly estimates that part of the forest would turn into a savannah in the middle of this century.

These threats are accelerating, according to the signatory organizations of the proposal, due to current policies of development, the spreading of single-crop farming, exploitation of commodities and the use of infrastructure that open up space to these predatory processes.

The discussion on sending the proposal to the International Council will be the main theme of the BOC meeting in Mai, before the Berlin meeting. Until then, organizations who wish to support the candidature can send a message to adilsonv@vivax.com.br

Get to know the preliminary version of the candidature’s supportive text and its first signatory organizations.

To the Brazilian Organizing Committee

To the WSF International Council

Amazon region’s candidature to host the World Social Forum 2009

We, social movements and non-governmental organizations from the Amazon region, have come to this Council to request the Amazon region’s candidature to host the 2009 edition of the WSF to be considered.

The candidature is proved to be relevant not only due to different political, cultural and environmental aspects, but also because of the global appeal that climate change has gained after the United Nations IPCC report. The Amazon region is the planet’s last forest frontier. Besides, it has the planet’s most valuable freshwater resources, biodiversity and great social diversity, which is represented by its traditional populations and indigenous peoples. The threats upon this human patrimony do not involve only climate changes. They are also accelerated by current development policies that point towards the growth of predatory activities such as single-crop farming and cattle-breeding, exploration of mineral commodities and installation of infrastructures that open up space to these predatory processes, which are proved to have very little positive effect on the Amazonian society as a whole. Therefore, hosting the World Social Forum has a great symbolic value to the region and will reinforce various efforts that aim at giving visibility to the importance of protecting natural resources and respecting the diversity of lifestyles, which are being threatened by the growth of neoliberal globalization process in this region, one of great strategic importance to the planet.

The support given by Amazonian social movements to this proposal is very significant, since it would strengthen fights against deforestation, for the reduction of poverty and for the maintenance of Amazon’s social and environmental diversity. Grassroots organizations and NGOs that act in regional and national levels have been supportive of this initiative. They are building a network whose aim is to legitimate the process among the organized civil society and, therefore, creating a positive scenario for the success of this challenge of hosting the WSF. The Amazon region is often forgotten by their countries, increasing the risks of extinction of hundreds of cultures that are isolated and distant from their governments’ actions. The WSF taking place in the Amazon region would give voice and visibility to thousands of ethnic groups whose territory are often invaded, while public authorities neglect their extermination of these groups. This situation can be seen, for example, in Javaí Valley, which borders Brazil’s, Peru’s and Colombia’s Amazon region.

The region has a very good history in hosting big international events organized by social movements. Since 2002, it hosts the Pan-Amazonian Forum. The event has a wide participation of the 9 amazonian countries and it is already consolidated in the international agenda as a space for discussing struggles that concern the whole American continent.

The region’s urban centers are perfectly suitable for hosting the WSF and, in this sense, we present the city of Belém, in the state of Pará, the second biggest urban center in the Amazon region. The city has a population of 1.500.000 people. Belém has ideal conditions for hosting the 2009 World Social Forum edition. It is a historical city with revolutionary traditions, since the biggest popular insurgence in the Amazon region – A Revolta dos Cabanos (Cabanos’ Insurgence) – took place in Belém, from 1835 to 1840. This rebellion is known for being the only one in which the rebels actually rose to power. Belém is a privileged city, since it is strategically located on the mouth of Amazonas river and in the extreme north of Brazil’s road system, besides having an international airport, which facilitates traveling conditions for people in Brazil and abroad.

Finally, we would like this candidature not to be considered a Brazilian one. On the contrary, it is the candidature of a region that reunites nine countries, thousands of indigenous peoples with hundreds of languages and one of the richest social-environmental diversity of the planet. It has also big social differences and it is viewed nowadays as a strategic region by big corporations and transnational companies that explore inadequately our people and wealth.

If another world is possible, the Amazon region gathers more than enough conditions to build this new world!

Let’s bring the world to Amazonia! World Social Forum in Belém – Pará – Amazonia 2009

Translated by Marcia Macedo

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Foto: Papelipe

A decisão sobre o lugar que sediará a próxima edição centralizada Fórum Social Mundial, em janeiro de 2009, deve ser tomada no limiar de junho de 2007, em reunião do Conselho Internacional do FSM, na cidade de Berlim.

Por iniciativa de organizações e movimentos sociais da Amâzônia, a possibilidade de realizar um encontro mundial na região estará na mesa do CI para avaliação.

Em janeiro de 2008, o FSM fará uma experiência de eventos múltiplos, em diferentes regiões, como contraponto ao Fórum Econômico Mundial, em Davos. Essa edição não centralizada será chamada de Jornadas de Mobilização Global e poderá ter um grande evento no Brasil (possivelmente conjunta com uma terceira edição do Fórum Social Brasileiro, na Bahia) e vários encontros ou manifestações regionais.

A candidatura amazônica é para a edição seguinte, novamente centralizada, e surge como alternativa forte a diferentes possibilidades já cogitadas, inclusive de cidades brasileiras, como Porto Alegre e Curitiba. A existência de uma articulação em defesa da ida do FSM para a região da floresta já havia sido mencionada pela diretora de Relações Institucionais do Instituto Paulo Freire, Salete Valesan Camba, durante o evento chamado Diálogos com a África, realizado por organizações do movimento negro em São Paulo na volta do FSM 2007, em Nairóbi.

A idéia de uma próxima edição na África, que também deve ser considerada pelo Conselho Internacional, poderá se transformar em proposta de apoio à realização de um Fórum Social Africano entre 2008 e 2009, e depois disso em uma articulação para realizar um novo evento mundial em outro país do continente.

O argumento amazônico

O documento intitulado Candidatura da Região Amazônica para sede do Fórum Social Mundial 2009 dirigido ao Comitê Organizador Brasileiro e ao Conselho Internacional do FSM começou a circular sexta-feira, dia 20 de Abril, para adesões de entidades de outras regiões e possíveis ajustes no próprio texto. A cidade sugerida como sede física do encontro é Belém, e as organizações proponentes esperam que não seja considerada uma candidatura apenas brasileira.

Reunindo nove países, a região amazônica já ocupa um lugar simbólico como centro dos debates mundiais sobre as consequências do aquecimento global, por sua vez resultantes do uso insustentável dos recursos do planeta. Os riscos de destruição da floresta “com as maiores reservas de biodiversidade e água doce, além de abrigar enorme sociodiversidade, representada nas suas populações tradicionais e povos indígenas” mostram que outro mundo é possível e urgente.

O recente Relatório do Clima,
produzido pelo Painel Intergovernamental de Mudanças Climáticas (IPCC), das Nações Unidas (ver documento em inglês) inclui a assustadora previsão de que parte da floresta se transforme em savana até meados deste século
)

Estas ameaças estão sendo aceleradas, segundo os signatários da proposta, pelas atuais políticas de desenvolvimento, ampliação das monoculturas agrícola e pecuária, exploração de commodities minerais e instalação de infra-estrutura que viabilizam esse processo predatório.

O encaminhamento da proposta ao Conselho Internacional será tema de uma última reunião do COB, em maio, antes do encontro de Berlim. Até lá, adesões à proposta poderão ser enviadas a adilsonv@vivax.com.br

Conheça versão preliminar do texto em defesa da candidatura e primeiras organizações signatárias.