Multimedia overview of the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre.

04/02/02
Two actions enlivened the official atmosphere at the main venue of the World Social Forum.
At 12:30am a carnivalesque march and a samba band invaded the VIPs Hall at PUC. see pics
Later in the afternoon, in another room of the same building, a French minister got pied by a group of activists protesting against the policies of the French government. see pics

03/02
Hebe Bonafini, the leader of the collective "Mothers of Plaza de Mayo" criticized the Forum.

02/02
Several activities took place on the second day of the WSF. At the Acampamento da Juventude activists organised a video festival. Intergalatika Workshop-another unofficial forum- held debates on police repression after September 11th while at the official venue of the WSF a debate on free and no-copyright software took place.

01/02
The American linguist Noam Chomsky has opened the activities of the second World Social Forum. Jornadas Anarchistas (Anarchist Days) -one of the alternative fora parallel to the official Forum- has begun with video screenings, workshops and meetings. Italian and French MPs have been booed by activists who accused the two European countries of supporting the USA in the war against Afghanistan.

31/01
The WSF was opened with three marches: the official march, the march of the acampamento da juventude and the "rebel march". The 600-strong rebel march broke away from the official march to head for an empty building in the centre of Porto Alegre. The building would have been used as a centre for alternative meetings and workshops and it would have become a social centre after the end of the WSF. Eighty policemen in riot gear repressed the action firmly.

A selection of news and reports in English from Brazilian mainstream media on the World Social Forum

For more info: IMC-Brasil