Posted on 02/06/2011 1:34:34 PM PST by NormsRevenge
DAKAR (AFP) – Tens of thousands of people marched through Dakar on Sunday at the start of the annual World Social Forum, an annual leftist gathering taking place as anti-government protests sweep the Arab world.
The 11th edition of the forum, an alternative to the elite World Economic Forum held in the posh Swiss ski resort of Davos last week, brings together anti-globalisation activists opposed to capitalism.
This year participants are focusing on the popular revolt spreading across northern Africa with demands for democracy and criticism of dire social conditions reflecting the crisis of capitalism.
Bolivia's leftist President Evo Morales told the crowd that capitalism was "dying in the face of a people's rebellion."
"There is a rebellion of the Arab peoples against US imperialism. The peoples' struggle is unstoppable. Even if the US government spends millions and millions to end these social movements, it is certain that they will not end.
"Capitalism is suffering a financial crisis, an energy crisis and is bringing us a food crisis. And it is the poor - be they farmers, workers or townspeople - who must pay for this crisis of capitalism."
Morale's 35-minute long speech, the longest of all speakers, was criticised by some marchers at the Forum which is meant to be apolitical.
Representatives from Arab countries currently gripped by popular protest, such as Egypt, took their place among marchers to demand the departure of authoritarian and dictatorial regimes.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.yahoo.com ...
People react as Bolivia's President Evo Morales is introduced before speaking on the opening day of the World Social Forum in Dakar, Senegal Sunday, Feb. 6, 2011. The anti-capitalist gathering that serves as an annual counterweight to the World Economic Forum kicked off in Senegal on Sunday with a march and a speech by Morales. (AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)
Absolutely and THEY are the ones who are causing it..
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