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Article: This Is What Democracy Looks Like.(Porto Alegre, Brazil, a model of organized freedom)
- Article from:
- Earth Island Journal
- Article date:
- June 22, 2001
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2001 Earth Island Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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PORTO ALEGRE, BRAZIL -- "Um outro mundo e possivel" (Another world is possible). That's the slogan of the World Social Forum (WSF) underway here. Or, as they said in Seattle, "This is what democracy looks like."
In Porto Alegre, this is what democracy looks like: During a march of thousands against neo-liberalism I counted ten police officers. When 200 Brazilian anarchists broke off from the march to throw white paint on a McDonald's, about six police stood by.
The next day, an ex-cop explained it this way: "We police were instructed to form partnerships with the social movements." By comparison, Davos, Switzerland, site of the World Economic Forum, was ...