Forum Post: Thematic Social Forum (World Social Forum)

Hey, I'm from Ocupa POA (Occupy Porto Alegre). As you probably know, Porto Alegre is the city that will host the Thematic Social Forum (aka World Social Forum) in this month. In our ongoing occupation, we decided not to attend the TSF as a group. The consensus in our General Assembly was that the TSF has no way to connect to our movement, in spite of their advertising to the effect that they are connected with the Occupy movement - at least not with the occupation that is going on here.

In brief, the TSF is completely tied to the institutional politics of Brazil. The event is organized and financed by corrupt political parties, by the current government and by big companies, through supporting institutions. It is important to point out that the current government and these companies are the supporters and beneficiaries of a system of exploration of the capital that is being socially and environmentally devastating. Since the essence of Ocupa POA (Occupy Porto Alegre) is being a resistance to these neoliberal forces, the group will stand as a resistance during the days when the TSF will be happening. We are joining forces with other occupations in Brazil in order to promote an alternative that is free and autonomous, in the spirit of the Occupy movement.

People from Occupy Wall Street and from the Occupy movement worldwide is highly invited to take part in this initiative.

Soon, we'll have a more detailed statement and a press release on this topic.

ocupapoa@gmail.com http://www.facebook.com/groups/ocupapoa http://www.ocupapoa.org