WORLD SOCIAL FORUM:
Presidents for Feminist
Socialism
By Mario Osava
BELÉM, Brazil (IPS) - "True socialism is feminist," and is already
being built, said Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez, standing next to
three other South American presidents, all of them men, at a
dialogue that took place Thursday at the World Social Forum (WSF).
"A new world is being born. Utopia is here in South America,"
continued Chávez, in a speech in which he repeatedly mentioned Fidel
Castro as the precursor of the wave of leftwing presidents elected
in the region in the past few years, and of the Bolivarian
Alternative for the Peoples of Our America (ALBA).
The presidents were speaking at the Dialogue on Popular Integration
of Our America, organised by Via Campesina, an international network
of rural movements and groups.
Ecuadorean President Rafael Correa, however, highlighted a number of
differences between "21st century socialism," a vision he shares
with the Venezuelan president, and "traditional socialism". One of
these is "gender justice", to end discrimination against women,
which the Ecuadorean state is promoting by, for example, paying
equal wages to men and women government employees.
"Ethnic equality", or a society that is inclusive of indigenous
peoples and Afro-descendants, and "intergenerational equity" are
other differences, he said.
But the most general criticism levelled by Correa at "classical
socialism" is that it "failed to question the development" model
promoted by capitalism, and merely proposed "fairer means of
achieving it", while accepting the goals of raising productivity and
consumption.
If China were to reach the same level of "development" as
industrialised nations, the planet would be incapable of meeting the
material demand, he argued. Today a different kind of development
must be pursued, one which preserves nature, biodiversity and
cultural diversity, he said.
Twenty-first century socialism "is already in place", recognising
the supreme value of human work, defending life and the "social
value" of ecosystems like "the Amazon rainforest, one of the
planet's lungs". Countries of the Amazon region, unlike industrial
nations which destroyed their forests, have conserved an environment
that has "enormous value, but is without price", he said.
Leaving oil reserves untapped, as Ecuador is trying to do, is a
sacrifice on behalf of humanity that "should be compensated with at
least half the income that might accrue to us" from exploiting the
oil, he added.
In the face of global climate change, alternative development is
today "a necessity recognised even by technology experts", Correa
said.
"An alternative model already exists" in Latin America, and will be
able to make great progress by means of regional integration, which
already has financial instruments like the Bank of the South and a
possible institutional framework in the Organisation of Latin
American and Caribbean States, approved in principle at the regional
summit in Salvador, Brazil, in December 2008, he said.
Changes within the region, reflected in the presence of the four
presidents regarded as being the most leftwing at Belém, owe a great
deal to the WSF, the "assembly of humanity" which began meeting
annually in the southern Brazilian city of Porto Alegre in 2001, the
presidents agreed.
"Paraguay changed because of your social movements' voices of hope,"
said Paraguayan President Fernando Lugo, who took office in August
2008. He said he had participated in previous WSF gatherings as a
Catholic bishop.
Peppering his speech with anti-imperialist slogans, Bolivian
President Evo Morales condemned foreign military bases on Latin
American soil, the result of "American interventionism," he said.
Chávez filled his speech with jokes and anecdotes, and garnered
plenty of applause when he declared himself "a feminist",
particularly from women participants who chanted "Just you wait,
imperialist, Latin America will all be feminist!"
Nearly 1,200 people participated in the Via Campesina dialogue,
which was in effect organised by the Landless Rural Workers Movement
(MST) of Brazil, a member organisation. Representatives of other
social groups were invited. But only two women were seated at the
table up front, together with eight men.
Magdalena León, of the Latin American Network of Women Transforming
the Economy, said that financial and food sovereignty, as well as in
other areas like communications, are essential dimensions of ALBA
and that small farmers, many of them producing at subsistence level,
are the foundation of the "other economy" that is being built.
ALBA is the brainchild of Chávez, and is made up of Bolivia, Cuba,
Dominica, Honduras, Nicaragua and Venezuela.
The absence of Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva at a
gathering of so many South American presidents "is a matter of
concern because he is the host", and a sign of "lack of interest in
integration", Pedro Quimbiamba, leader of Ecuador's National
Federation of Peasant, Indigenous and Black Organisations (FENOCIN),
told IPS.
The socialism championed by the four presidents attending the WSF,
who support ALBA (although Ecuador and Paraguay have not yet
officially joined), may be the reason for Lula's decision, said
María Gualán, a grassroots organiser for FENOCIN.
Electing more women presidents in the countries of the region "is a
matter of time", Gualán told IPS, rationalising the predominance of
male leaders as a delay in overcoming "machista" culture.
For Ecuador to have an indigenous president, like Bolivia, will also
take time, but "it will happen some day", said the FENOCIN
activists, both of whom are indigenous people.
On a different issue, President Lugo of Paraguay said "we will not
rest in peace, and our soul will not rest, until we attain that
goal", meaning a better price and "free availability" of energy
produced by the Itaipú hydroelectric power station, which Paraguay
sells to Brazil.
Itaipú is shared by the two countries on conditions agreed in "a
treaty signed during the dictatorships" in 1973, he said. Revising
these conditions was one of the main planks of Lugo's electoral
campaign last year.
Paraguay wants to "recover its dignity" and be "treated as an
equal", in fulfilment of a Guaraní prophecy, the president said.
There is no reason for the dispute, according to the Brazilian
government and the Brazilian administrators of Itaipú, because the
price is fair and the agreement is greatly to the benefit of
Paraguay.
The construction of the gigantic Itaipú dam and hydroelectric
station on the Paraná River, a border between the two countries, was
financed by Brazil.
For Paraguay, "A better deal than Itaipú could only be another
Itaipú," Nelton Friedrich, the Brazilian head of coordination and
environmental affairs at Itaipú Binacional, the company that runs
the power plant, told IPS.
Paraguay earns 700 million dollars a year without having invested a
single dollar. Brazil bore the cost of the works, and at one point
the foreign debt incurred for the construction of Itaipú represented
20 percent of the total Brazilian national debt, Friedrich said.
Furthermore, in the first few years of its operation, when Brazilian
demand was too low to absorb a large proportion of the energy
generated by the plant, the Brazilian government obliged electricity
distribution companies to buy and pay for electricity from Itaipú,
thus benefiting Paraguay, he said.
Itaipú Binacional's debt now stands at 18 billion dollars, and is
falling. In 2023, when the treaty expires, the debt will be
liquidated. Paraguay will receive half of the power station, whose
market value today is 60 billion dollars, and will be able to sell
the electricity to whomever it wants, he concluded.
At present, Paraguay only consumes five percent of the electricity
generated, and is obliged by the terms of the treaty to sell Brazil
all the rest of its share of the energy at predetermined rates.
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