Confronting the continually worsening conditions, neoliberalism, and war, we the world social movement, tens of thousands of people, meet at the Second World Social Forum in Porto Alegre. Here in large numbers, in spite of attempts to break our solidarity. We gather again to continue our fight, ratifying accords from the previous year and reaffirming that "a different world is possible".
We are diverse - women and men, youth and adults, farmers, fishermen and women, city dwellers, unemployed workers, students, professionals, migrants, indigenous peoples and people from all beliefs, colors and sexual orientations. Diversity is our strength and its expression is the base of our unity. We are a global solidarity movement, united in our determination to fight against the concentration of wealth, the proliferation of poverty and the destruction of our planet. We are constructing an alternative system and using creative paths to do it. We are constructing an ample alliance through our struggles and resistance against the system based in patriarchy, in racism and violence, that privileges the interests of capital over the needs and aspirations of the people. This system creates a daily existence in which thousands of women, children and senior die of hunger, lack of medical attention and illnesses that could have been prevented. Entire families are forced to abandon their land because of wars, modernization, loss of farmland, natural disasters, loss of jobs, the precarious nature of public services and the destruction of community solidarity. In the South as well as the North, the struggles and resistance demand dignity.
September 11th marks a major change. After the terrorist attacks, which we completely condemn, just as we would condemn other attacks against civil society in the rest of the world, the government of the United States and their allies responded with massive military action. In the name of the "war on terror", they put civil and political rights in jeopardy all over the world. The Afghani war, in which terrorist methods were used, was expanded to other fronts. It is nothing more than a permanent global war that consolidates the domination of the United States government and its allies. This war reveals the brutal face of neoliberalism. They satanize Islam, and in doing so, intentionally exacerbate the problem of racism and xenophobia. Methods of communication and information create a war-like atmosphere, dividing the world into "good" and "evil". The opposition to the war is an important part of our struggle.
Translated by FMST volunteer Anne Strauss.