The World Social Forum is an alternative to the World Economic Forum, but in the chaos of a never-ending desire to create something new, a forum has emerged in Caracas that is an "alternative to the alternative". What do they claim? That the WSF should never have accepted a cent from the Venezuelan government. In this context John Holloway arrived to inform us that one can change the world without any need to take power, designate ministers, make decrees, send laws to Parliament, discipline the military, or any such odious administrative functions. He was accompanied by the phrase "no revolution is financed by multinationals", a slogan surely aimed at the new PDVSA, Venezuela's national oil company that puts money towards President Hugo Chávez's anti-poverty and anti-exclusion programmes. The professor affirms that established power is personified in capitalism, and to defeat it there are four principles.

Asking Questions, We Move Forward

Holloway says that a horizontal social model must be created, different from capitalism. In the world there exist two powers. One is related to work, that is, the power others exert over us. The other represents self-determination and is reactive, which translates into what each person can do. There are moments, he says, when one shouts against capital, demonstrating rejection of outside control and the existence of a space for creating. Holloway defines these moments as cracks, which ultimately turn into a revolution in which these cracks and these shouts of opposition multiply. This process of revolution comes about in two timeframes, one of preparation and work for the future, and another in which social relations can be changed. Venezuela would be precisely in this second stage. In order to take over the world without taking power it is necessary that the protagonist of these changes be each one of its subjects, who assume the responsibility of transforming reality, with a critical eye to the government and representation. But similarly, "the revolution represents a movement against ourselves, because we are antagonists, schizophrenic." All of this, which could leave Chávez, Evo Morales and Lula thinking about resigning, was enthusiastically applauded by the audience, made up of the most "alternative" Forum-goers of all.

Two Lefts, Two Social Forums

Phrases like "No compromise with power", "No subsidies, this forum is truly self-sufficient" greet one arriving at the Alternative Social Forum, whose theme proposes "a response, a debate from the left", but an alternative, pluralistic left, one that rejects the dichotomy of "Chavistas" and "opposition" in the Venezuelan political dynamic. Workshops, screenings of documentaries, and debates fuel this other forum, which welcomes national groups like the Nelson Carrido Organisation and the Centre for Libertarian Social Studies, and international groups like Earth First!, War Resisters' International, Argentine Libertarian Federation, Mexico's Magonista Autonomous Collective, and the Cuban Libertarian Movement. The dynamics of the diversity of languages, gatherings and slogans against imperialism are repeated, just as in the World Social Forum. The Alternative Social Forum describes itself as a self-organising effort, because it does not accept funding from the government or from private companies, and there are indications of its very minimal budget. However, as ASF organiser Rafael Uzcátegui clarifies, "the objective is not to compete with the WSF, but we want to continue as an ongoing space for exchange." This alternative forum, he says, proposes to break down the paradigm that the entire political left is in power, and the right in the opposition, which in his opinion is a childish viewpoint.