US under fire as Chavez hosts World Social Forum

By Patrick Markey

CARACAS, Venezuela (Reuters) – Tens of thousands of
international activists gathered in Caracas on Tuesday for the
World Social Forum to protest U.S. imperialism and debate
topics from fair trade to indigenous rights.

The event bills itself as nonpartisan. But much attention
will focus on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a self-styled
socialist revolutionary, who has become a regional
standard-bearer for left-wing, anti-U.S. movements since
allying himself with Cuba.

The sixth world forum, an event that began in Porto Alegre
in Brazil, registered more than 67,000 participants and starts
with a march against imperialism that will likely focus on U.S.
President George W. Bush and the U.S.-led Iraq war.

“This is a process that can bring change for everyone,”
said Colombian Lucy Martinez, who belongs to a solidarity group
with Cuba. “It’s great that it is here in Venezuela because
Chavez, like Fidel Castro, is an example for everyone.”

Ecuadorean Indians in traditional shawls sat among piles of
their luggage while Brazilian students checked out street
stalls offering Che Guevara T-shirts and bracelets, watches and
posters printed with Chavez’s image.

Lines of participants waiting to register snaked inside a
Caracas theater complex and others set up a campsite in a
nearby public park.

Many traveled by road from neighboring Brazil and Colombia.
At least four Brazilian students were killed and 11 injured
when their bus crashed in Peru in route to Caracas.

The forum began as an alternative to the gathering of world
leaders in Davos, Switzerland, but it is now a broad movement
where activists campaign and discuss topics as varied as gay
rights, debt forgiveness and anti-globalization.

Two similar events have been organized for Mali and
Pakistan.

“BUSH TERRORIST”

At the start of the Caracas forum, Cuba’s National Assembly
speaker Ricardo Alarcon held an “open court” to accuse Bush of
protecting a Cuban-born former CIA operative wanted by Havana
and Caracas for the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976.

“We all know Mr Bush is a terrorist, ” Alarcon said. “But I
want to indulge him, up to a certain point, he is not guilty.
He learned to be a terrorist from the crib, he carries it in
his blood.”

A U.S. judge last year ruled Luis Posada Carriles, who is
also blamed for bomb attacks on Havana hotels, could not be
extradited to Venezuela.

The forum took place just days after Bolivia’s Evo Morales
became the latest left-wing president to assume power in South
America on a wave of regional rejection of U.S.-backed
free-market economic policies.

Venezuela’s Chavez has branded Bush “Mr. Danger” and says
he is bringing socialism to the world’s No. 5 oil exporter to
better the lives of the poor.

Chavez, who often claims inspiration from South American
liberation hero Simon Bolivar, says he has sought out trade and
energy deals with South American neighbors to counter
Washington’s damaging influence in the region.

U.S. officials dismiss Chavez’s accusations that they are
plotting his overthrow. They say the tough-talking, retired
army paratrooper is working with Cuba as a destabilizing force
in other South American countries.