[GPCA Updates] GP ADVISORY: US Greens to attend the World Social Forum in Caracas

[Jim Stauffer]

GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES
http://www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
Monday, January 23, 2006


U.S. Greens to attend the 2006 World Social Forum in
Caracas, Venezuela, Jan. 24-29


WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Members of the Green Party of the
United States will be among the 100,000 social
activists from nations throughout the Americas
attending the World Social Forum (WSF) in Caracas,
Venezuela, January 24 to 29.

Greens heading to Caracas for the WSF include Patrick
Barrett, Peter Camejo, James M Leas, Ben Manski, and
George Martin.

Mr. Camejo, former Green candidate for Governor of
California and independent candidate Ralph Nader's
2004 running mate for the White House, will speak at a
January 27 meeting of U.S. participants during the
WSF.  Mr. Martin will represent United For Peace and
Justice <http://www.unitedforpeace.org>, a coalition
of U.S. organizations that oppose the U.S. invasion
and occupation of Iraq.

"The World Social Forum convenes as a popular response
to the annual meeting of heads of state and corporate
leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos,
Switzerland," said Julia Willebrand, co-chair of the
Green Party's International Committee.  "The WSF's
dedication to social and economic justice, democracy,
and environmental concerns stands in opposition to the
Davos agenda based on corporate profit, 'free market'
ideology, and use of military and police forces,
government subsidies, and international treaties to
advance the power of wealthy ruling elites.  The Green
Party's mission and platform are consistent with the
WSF's -- Greens in the U.S. and other nations are the
political arm of the movement that unites every year
at the WSF."

Greens attending the WSF will not officially represent
the U.S. Green Party, because the WSF's Charter of
Principles states that it is a non-governmental and
non-party entity.  Mr. Manski is a fellow with the
Liberty Tree Foundation for the Democratic Revolution
<http://www.LibertyTreeFDR.org>; Mr. Barrett is
organizer for the Midwest Social Forum
<http://www.MWSocialForum>.

"Growing numbers of people in the U.S. are looking to
the democratic developments in the rest of the
Americas and asking how similar changes might happen
here.  The growth of a democratic alternative to the
so-called Washington Consensus is a sign of hope for
Americans across the hemisphere," said Mr. Manski, a
former co-chair of the Green Party of the United
States.

Simultaneous WSFs are planned for Bamako, Mali, and
Karachi, Pakistan.  The three meetings in 2006 follow
the single global meeting that was held in Porto
Alegre, Brazil, in 2005.

The meeting in Caracas is significant in 2006 because
it recognizes the challenges that some governments in
South America (especially those led by Presidents Hugo
Chavez in Venezuela, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in
Brazil, Evo Morales of Bolivia, and President-elect
Michelle Bachelet of Chile) pose to the U.S.,
especially to the Bush Administration's pro-corporate
agenda and attempt to control fossil fuel industries
in the Western Hemisphere; U.S. military incursions in
Colombia and threats against Venezuela and Cuba; and
U.S.-backed international trade agreements that have
damaged democracy, worker and environmental
protections, and economic conditions throughout the
Americas.

Ben Manski will speak on two panels at the WSF:
"Prospects for a Democracy Movement in the U.S.", and
"An Internal Clash of Civilizations: Corporatization
of Public Services in the U.S."  Patrick Barrett will
speak on three panels: "New Forms of Participatory
Democracy in the Americas", "The Latin American Left",
and "Social Forums Around the World."


MORE INFORMATION

Green Party of the United States
http://www.gp.org
1700 Connecticut Avenue NW, Suite 404
Washington, DC 20009.
202-319-7191, 866-41GREEN
Fax 202-319-7193

World Social Forum
Caracas, Venezuela, January 24-29, 2006
(Media credentialing and information at this site)
http://www.forosocialmundial.org.ve/Ingles/

On site coverage by Sari Gelzer of the WSF in Caracas,
in truthout.org
http://truthout.org/worldsocialforum2006.shtml

U.S. Social Forum in Atlanta, Georgia, January 2007
http://www.ussocialforum.org/

Project South: Institute for the Elimination of
Poverty and Genocide
http://www.projectsouth.org/

"World Social Forum: The Great Debate in a Land of
Change"
By Humberto Márquez, Inter Press Service, January 18,
2006
http://www.commondreams.org/headlines06/0118-05.htm


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