Cruz heads to Caracas World Social Forum

Since 2001 the World Social Forum has provided “an open meeting place where social movements, networks, NGOs and other civil society organizations opposed to neoliberalism and a world dominated by capital or by any form of imperialism come together to pursue their thinking, to debate ideas democratically, formulate proposals, share their experiences freely and network for effective action” with thousands of participants from throughout the world.

This year the 6th World Social Forum will take place in three locations instead of one. We are sending Nuestro Mundo editor José A. Cruz to cover the Americas WSF in Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 24-29. The two other WSF venues will be Bamako, Mali, and Karachi, Pakistan.

With an estimated 80,000 participants, the Caracas WSF will open with a “March Against Imperialism and War.” The forum will include more than 2,000 workshops, panel discussions and activities against the different aspects of corporate globalization, its impact on the peoples of the world, and pro-corporate neoliberal government policies.

The experience of Venezuela’s Bolivarian Revolution and the participation of working-class and poor people through the neighborhood-based Bolivarian Circles in the running of Venezuelan society are expected to be much discussed during the WSF.

Cruz will be traveling with a U.S./Cuba Labor Exchange tour. After the WSF, the group will spend a few days in Colombia, where they are scheduled to meet with Colombian trade unionists.

While Cruz is away, we will publish two pages of Nuestro Mundo instead of three.