Interview with Gloria La Riva
Iraq, Mumbai impact on World Social Forum
Workers World Managing Editor John Catalinotto
interviewed Gloria La Riva, the U.S. coordinator of the
National Committee to Free the Cuban Five and a leader of the
anti-war movement on the West Coast, about the World Social
Forum that took place Jan. 16-21 in Mumbai, India.
Workers World: You attended the fourth World Social
Forum, the first held outside of Porto Alegre, Brazil. As an
active participant, what was your impression of this
event?
Gloria La Riva: The WSF was held in the NESCO exhibition
grounds, located in the north of Mumbai. It was in a very large
field, encompassed by a wall, sort of like a fairgrounds. To
house 1,200 workshops, exhibition halls, rallies and meetings
was a considerable feat, given the very limited resources of
the country.
The WSF workshops ranged from a few dozen to several
thousand participants. One of the biggest was the Women's Court
on U.S. War Crimes, where Ramsey Clark and I were invited to
speak. I spoke at workshops about the five Cuban political
prisoners in the U.S. known as the Cuban Five. I also
represented the ANSWER coalition at some important meetings of
anti-war groups.
From my limited observations, it appeared the vast majority
of the more than 100,000 people attending were Indian, as well
as a smaller number from other South Asian countries like
Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, etc., and
additional thousands of people from Europe, the U.S., Latin
America, Africa, Australia, and everywhere else in the world.
There were 130-150 countries represented.
Many meetings were held in the dozens of tent-like
structures, made of burlap, drywall and burlap or dirt floors.
The larger events, like the Women's Court or Tribunal that
Ramsey Clark and I participated in, were in warehouse-like
structures that held about 4,000 people.
The political leadership of the WSF is mainly from the
social-democratic parties, Non-Governmental Organizations--not
from communist or anti-imperialist organizations. Some people
criticized the WSF sharply for receiving funds from the Ford
Foundation, the Soros Foundation and other such institutions,
which certainly colors the outlook of the organizers.
Nevertheless the WSF attracts many people involved in struggle,
and I believe the majority of those who attended are conscious
anti-imperialists.
There was also a Mumbai Resistance event across the street
from the WSF, which took positions in its final statement
openly in solidarity with, for example, the resistance in Iraq.
A few thousand people took part. Some speakers, like Arundhati
Roy, spoke at both the WSF and the MR. She called on people to
resist the U.S. occupation of Iraq in talks at both forums.
The opening WSF event was an outdoor rally of 100,000, a
very rousing affair, with a few key speakers and music. Some of
the key speakers were Arundhati Roy, India, Shabana Azmi of
India, Shirin Ebadi, the Nobel peace prize winner from Iran,
and Mustafa Barghouti of Palestine.
What was the impact of its being held in India?
One of the most important aspects of the venue was raising
the consciousness of the progressive movement from around the
world of the struggles of the Indian masses, so that more
solidarity can be built among the people. Driving through just
a few streets from the hotel to the WSF, we could see the
desperate economic situation of so many people. There are
families living in rudimentary sheds, tents, and people just
living on the dirt, with nothing, nothing but rags, not even a
blanket to sit on, not even a doorway to sleep in. It drives
home the urgent need for revolution. One gets a better
understanding of the statistics we hear about worldwide
poverty, the 800 million who go to bed hungry. Here in India,
as in other similarly oppressed countries, many people
literally starve to death.
In the WSF there were many, many events every day around the
basic themes: anti-war, anti-globalization, including workers'
union struggles, against privatization, women's, anti-racist,
especially about the Dalit--formerly known by that negative
term "untouchables," lesbian/ gay/bi/trans, peasant movements,
fair trade, environmental, cultural. Indian unions like the
railway workers' union, the bank workers' union fighting
privatization of India's banks, the militant workers at General
Electric who have been locked out for six months--they were
also a prominent part of the events.
Many struggles in India are over the most basic issues, of
women's fight against oppression and domestic violence like
dowry killings, beatings, etc., and of the Dalits' struggle
against centuries of oppres sion because of the caste system.
There were many Dalit organizations that came in caravans from
throughout the country. For that issue alone and the
strengthening of their cause, the WSF was worth holding in
India, as well as publicizing the overall struggle of the
Indian masses.
There was a lot of respect and acknowledgement of the Dalit
struggle by all the participants in the forum, from within
India and the foreigners.
India is in the grips of massive privatization and a drastic
lowering of workers' and peasants' living conditions. Given the
growing takeover by U.S. capital of their industries, it is
clear that the fate of the U.S. workers is bound up with the
fate of the Indian masses.
Can you describe some of the forums you took part
in?
The Women's Tribunal had 2,000 people attending when it
started at 10 a.m., and it lasted almost 12 hours with many
people staying for hours. This event was consistently
anti-imperialist, encompassing struggles of Palestine, Iraq,
Puerto Rico, Korea featuring two representatives from North
Korea, two speakers from Cuba and me on the Cuban Five,
Philippines, Hawaiian struggle, former U.S. Rep. Cynthia
McKinney on oppression of the African American community in the
U.S., anti-globalization, Ireland, Kensington Welfare Rights
Organization, Vietnam and 30 other speakers.
Hundreds of Indian people attended, making the court
probably the most mixed crowd of Indians and foreigners besides
the outdoor rallies. Ramsey Clark, who spoke at the beginning
and conclusion and was head juror, was a featured speaker,
along with former United Nations official Denis Halliday,
Fatima Meer, and others. Clark gave a great opening talk on the
need to stand up against U.S. aggression everywhere.
Among the events in solidarity with Cuba was a workshop held
by the Socialist Cuba Initiative, a group from Belgium. Many of
the almost 400 people at it were South Asian, as well as from
several European countries, and Latin America. I spoke there on
the Cuban 5 along with a representative of the Workers Party of
Belgium and two Cuban representatives, who spoke about advances
of the Cuban revolution. Workshop participants then held a
march on the WSF grounds in solidarity with Cuba.
On the second-to-last day, there was a mass meeting on Cuba
sponsored by some of the Indian Marxist organizations. They
organized it off the grounds, featuring the Cuban delegation,
with 1,200 people applauding a rousing call of solidarity for
Cuba and the Cuban 5.
Every day, there were mini- and medium-sized rallies and
marches held by many groups. Different groups would gather and
march through the grounds, often running into each other and
merging.
Ramsey Clark, Denis Halliday and I also spoke at an Economic
Sanctions workshop organized by the Cuban Institute of
Philosophy. Winnie Mandela spoke briefly at that workshop. And
she reminisced with Ramsey Clark about a meeting they had 34
years ago when she was under house arrest in apartheid-ruled
South Africa.
Clark also spoke at an Arab workshop, which was chaired by
Rania Masri. There were also a Palestinian speaker and a Syrian
woman speaking there. Clark said that it is imperative to get
rid of Bush, but he emphasized that people should not expect
anything from the Democrats, either. He said they are part of
the problem, that it is the system and the plutocracy of the
U.S. that engenders war. He said at the economics sanctions
workshop that from his observations, socialism is a more humane
and rational system than capitalism.
Denis Halliday spoke at the same events as Clark. He gave a
militant talk calling for an end to the occupation.
What happened in the anti-war discussions? Did the WSF
support the call for March 20 actions?
There was an "Anti-War Assembly," which held all-day events
to discuss the various points of the U.S. war on Iraq and
related issues. The demonstration this upcoming March 20 was a
major focus, and in the final statement of the WSF this date
was supported as an international day of action. There was also
talk of the International Tribunal on Iraq.
I attended the main one that was discussing the program for
March 20, and the Declaration of the Anti-War Assembly. I spoke
there on Jan. 19, during the all-day assembly. Throughout the
day, there were about 200 to 300 people attending. Most of
those at the meeting were from Europe, and from North and South
America, as well as Japan and south Korea.
Speaking for ANSWER's position and demands on March 20, I
called strongly for the anti-war movement to make Palestine a
central theme and for an unconditional end to the occupation,
and I let them know that many Arab, Muslim and Palestinian
groups in the United States and around the world are supporting
the call.
Palestinian revolutionary Leila Khaled, who also attended
the Women's Court, gave a very inspiring and moving talk on the
need for the anti-war movement to defend Palestine, including
the right of return.
In the end, the organizers said that the main demand is
troops out of Iraq, and that it would be up to national groups
to make up their own demands. They avoided taking an
international position that would clarify the issue but left it
to the national groups. The declaration of the anti-war
assembly has reference to Palestine.
One notable thing was that my delegate identification card
said ANSWER--the Act Now to Stop War and End Racism
coalition--and it received very supportive feedback from many
people, especially the people from the United States. Virtually
every U.S. person recognized ANSWER and made positive remarks,
and asked for literature.
Many of the crowds rallying elsewhere at the WSF, the
Palestinians and other Arabs, the Indian workers shouting
against U.S. war in Iraq outside, and other Marxist and Third
World forces, who were expressing clear anti-imperialist
positions at these rallies, unfortunately were not represented
in the anti-war assembly.
The debate on these issues internationally confirmed that
the struggle to sharpen the political debate, to rally the
anti-imperialist forces worldwide, to unconditionally oppose
the U.S. occupation and defend the Palestinians' full right to
self-determination is more important than ever. The same debate
going on within the U.S. anti-war movement is going on
worldwide as seen in the WSF.
Reprinted from the Feb. 5, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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