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CounterPunch
January
25, 2003
Porto Alegre
Diary II
Building the
Party, Brazilian Style
by JENNIFER BERKSHIRE
Porto Alegre.
"Can you imagine if the left
in the US looked like this?" one American activist said
wistfully, watching as the opening march of the World Social
Forum snaked its way through the city streets on Thursday. His
envy was understandable: the parade of political parties, civil
society organizations, marching bands and dancers that clogged
downtown Porto Alegre for hours was a vivid, shimmying spectacle,
a continent away from the dreariness that plagues most gatherings
of the US left. Also absent: the tense standoffs between demonstrators
and police that have marked nearly every recent globalization
gathering. Local police were merely observers at this political
carnival.
So what makes the Latin American left
so different from its US counterpart? Median age, for starters.
The youth--or "juventude" as their signs and flags
read--were everywhere. They marched by country, cause and political
party. They danced and drummed for communism, socialism, anarchism
and everything in between. And while a small contingent of the
now-infamous "Black Bloc" appeared late in the parade,
it was only an obvious lack of tropical clothing that distinguished
them at all.
Then there's the rhythm thing. Even the
clunkiest slogans somehow roll off the tongue when chanted in
Portuguese to a samba beat ("Stop Bush US Imperialist Aggressor"
was particularly catchy.)
Like previous gatherings held here, this
one was about globalization, a loose gathering of folk united
by a shared belief that "another world is possible,"
the close to official slogan of the anti-globo movement. But
what kind of world? The range of often conflicting visions was
obvious. For many on the far left, it's a socialist world, or
at very least "Death to Capitalism," as one popular
sign read. For the NGO's and issue groups, it's a world in which
capitalism is better managed, trade is fair and financial transactions
taxed.
The distance between the two constituencies
is immense, bridged here only by the savvy street vendors who
managed to sell cerveixa, Caipirinhas and Che garb to both. The
split between the revolutionaries and the reformistas is fundamental;
they do not speak the same language. One group of marchers had
a novel solution: Esperanto. They carried signs--in Portuguese
rather than Esperanto--imploring us to speak the universal language.
If the critics of globalization who massed
here are divided about the world they want, there was a single
issue that united nearly everyone: the US war against Iraq. The
war was the thing, opposed by all of the various political groupings,
and by delegations from from some 125 countries. And while rumors
of a large anti-American demonstration in the center of Porto
Alegre swept through a gathering of US delegates earlier in the
day, the warnings proved groundless. The US representatives carried
placards opposing war too. Tacked to a telephone poll near the
docks, a single sign condeming "Yankees, Jews and Nazis,"
hung limply. But no one seemed to notice, not even the delegation
of Argentine jews that marched through the streets urging peace,
and waving the Israeli flag.
Enough about the marchers. What did ordinary
Porto Alegrenses think of the spectacle? For a country that routinely
shuts down for four days of carnival every February, this was
no big deal: a fully-clothed preview of next month's ritual.
Still, curious onlookers were everywhere. Workers, done for the
day, lined the streets, and residents watched from their balconies,
some showering the crowd with homemade confetti. A group of cafeteria
workers pointed and waved to the marchers from their restaurant
window.
And what of the Brazilian elite, notorious
for their resistance to any social and political change? They
gave up the center of Porto Alegre long ago, taking to the hills
that surround the city where they live behind wrought iron gates.
"We will make them hear us," said one marcher, an AIDS
activist from Rio. "Even if they can't see us, they'll hear."
Note: To sustain high spirits during a lengthy political
gathering, a hefty shot of Cachaca, the Brazilian cane liquor
is essential.
Caipirinha 1 lime quartered 1 tablespoon
of sugar 1 shot of Cachaca (Brazilian cane liquor) * cup of ice
cubes with water
Place the lime and sugar in the bottom
of a glass. Using the handle of a wooden spoon , crush and mash
the limes. Add liquor and ice. Stir well.
Jennifer Berkshire can be reached at: jenniferberkshire@hotmail.com
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