DECLARATION OF THE ASSEMBLY of SOCIAL MOVEMENTS
World Social Forum 2009
January 27, 2009 to February 01, 2009
Belém, Brazil
We won’t pay for the crisis. The rich have to pay for it !
Anti-imperialist, anti-capitalist, feminist, environmentalist and socialist alternatives are necessary
By the Assembly of Social Movements
We the social movements from all over the world came together on the occasion of the 8th World Social Forum in Belém, Amazonia, where the peoples have been resisting attempts to usurp Nature, their lands and their cultures. We are here in Latin America, where over the last decade the social movements and the indigenous movements have joined forces and radically question the capitalist system from their cosmovision. Over the last few years, in Latin America highly radical social struggles have resulted in the overthrow of neoliberal governments and the empowerment of governments that have carried out many positive reforms such as the nationalisation of core sectors of the economy and democratic constitutional reforms.
In this context the social movements in Latin America have responded
appropriately, deciding to support the positive measures adopted by
these governments while keeping a critical distance. These experiences
will be of help in order to strengthen the peoples’ staunch resistance
against the policies of governments, corporations and banks who shift
the burden of the crisis onto the oppressed. We the social movements of
the globe are currently facing a historic challenge. The international
capitalist crisis manifests itself as detrimental to humankind in
various ways: it affects food, finance, the economy, climate, energy,
population migration… and civilisation itself, as there is also a
crisis in international order and political structures.
We are facing a global crisis which is a direct consequence of the
capitalist system and therefore cannot find a solution within the
system. All the measures that have been taken so far to overcome the
crisis merely aim at socialising losses so as to ensure the survival of
a system based on privatising strategic economic sectors, public
services, natural and energy resources and on the commoditisation of
life and the exploitation of labour and of nature as well as on the
transfer of resources from the Periphery to the Centre and from workers
to the capitalist class.
The present system is based on exploitation, competition, promotion of
individual private interests to the detriment of the collective
interest, and the frenzied accumulation of wealth by a handful of rich
people. It results in bloody wars, fuels xenophobia, racism and
religious fundamentalisms; it intensifies the exploitation of women and
the criminalisation of social movements. In the context of the present
crisis the rights of peoples are systematically denied. The Israeli
government’s savage aggression against the Palestinian people is a
violation of International Law and amounts to a war crime, a crime
against humanity, and a symbol of the denial of a people’s rights that
can be observed in other parts of the world. The shameful impunity must
be stopped. The social movements reassert their active support of the
struggle of the Palestinian people as well as of all actions against
oppression by peoples worldwide.
In order to overcome the crisis we have to grapple with the root of the
problem and progress as fast as possible towards the construction of a
radical alternative that would do away with the capitalist system and
patriarchal domination. We must work towards a society that meets
social needs and respects nature’s rights as well as supporting
democratic participation in a context of full political freedom. We
must see to it that all international treaties on our indivisible
civic, political, economic, social and cultural rights, both individual
and collective, are implemented.
In this perspective we must contribute to the largest possible popular
mobilisation to enforce a number of urgent measures such as:
* Nationalising the banking sector without compensations and with full social monitoring,
* Reducing working time without any wage cut,
* Taking measures to ensure food and energy sovereignty
* Stopping wars, withdraw occupation troops and dismantle military foreign bases
* Acknowledging the peoples’ sovereignty and autonomy ensuring their right to self-determination
* Guaranteeing rights to land, territory, work, education and health for all.
* Democratise access to means of communication and knowledge.
The social emancipation process carried by the feminist,
environmentalist and socialist movements in the 21st century aims at
liberating society from capitalist domination of the means of
production, communication and services, achieved by supporting forms
of ownership that favour the social interest: small family freehold,
public, cooperative, communal and collective property.
Such an alternative will necessarily be feminist since it is impossible
to build a society based on social justice and equality of rights when
half of humankind is oppressed and exploited.
Lastly, we commit ourselves to enriching the construction of a society
based on a life lived in harmony with oneself, others and the world
around (“el buen vivir”) by acknowledging the active participation and
contribution of the native peoples.
We, the social movements, are faced with a historic opportunity to
develop emancipatory initiatives on a global scale. Only through the
social struggle of the masses can populations overcome the crisis. In
order to promote this struggle, it is essential to work on
consciousness-raising and mobilisation from the grassroots. The
challenge for the social movements is to achieve a convergence of
global mobilisation. It is also to strengthen our ability to act by
supporting the convergence of all movements striving to withstand
oppression and exploitation.
We thus commit ourselves to:
- Launch a Global Week of Action against Capitalism and War from March
28 to April 4, 2009 with: anti-G20 mobilisation on March 28,
mobilisation against war and crisis on March 30, a Day of Solidarity
with the Palestinian People to promote boycott, disinvestment and
sanctions against Israel on March 30, mobilisation for the 60th
Anniversary of NATO on April 4, etc.
- Increase occasions for mobilisation through the year: March 8,
International Women Day; April 17, International Day for Food
Sovereignty; May 1, International Workers’ Day; October 12, Global
Mobilisation of Struggle for Mother Earth, against colonisation and
commodification of life.
- Schedule an agenda of acts of resistance against the G8 Summit in
Sardinia, the Climate Summit in Copenhagen, the Summit of the Americas
in Trinidad and Tobago, etc.
Through such demands and initiatives we thus respond to the crisis with radical and emancipatory solutions.
http://www.fsm2009amazonia.org.br/programme/alliance-day/results-of-assemblies/declaration-of-the-assembly-of-social-movements/
