The Indian writer Arundhati Roy ended her address to the last conference at the World Social Forum with these words: another world is not only possible, it already exists, it is being born. More than twenty thousand people applauded, embraced and sang in a stadium overflowing with people and hope.
This last conference, entitled "How to stand up to the Empire", was a great appeal for peace. Thousands of voices were raised to sing "Imagine". A huge flag, made of many flags sewn together was passed along the terraces of the Gigantinho and from different points in the city, in front of huge screens, more participants added their applause and their voices.
The mayor of Porto Alegre, João Verde, read a declaration appealing for a peaceful solution to the Palestinian conflict and for a just and lasting peace. Evo Morales, the third speaker alongside Roy and Chomsky, spoke through the words of a man and women who read a letter denouncing the situation suffered by peasant farmer in his country. He invited all the participants in the Forum to create Bolivia solidarity committees in their countries, to support the coca-producing movement, which is systematically repressed, and the thousands of indigenous peoples, who are suffering the consequences of the dirty war against drugs.
Noam Chomsky spoke about the war against Iraq and the lies used to justify it. He also spoke about the resistance that is emerging all over the world, including the United States, to the decisions being taken by the world's power brokers. He referred to the climate of gloom that is hanging over Davos, where the so-called "masters of the universe" are coming to realize that their global party's over. The figures don't add up and confidence in transnational corporations is declining. More and more voices are being raised against the war. Meanwhile, he stressed, in Porto Alegre enthusiasm is growing.
Arundhati Roy described the current situation in India, where the state endorses the genocide against the Moslem population and has sold off most of the country's assets. The free market, she declared, is the enemy of democracy. However, the resistance movements that have emerged throughout the world are revealing the Empire for what it is. The protests, the proposals, the books, the music and the images that are being produced in every corner of the planet are slowly suffocating the Empire. A new world is being born.
