Caracas 2006 Babels Project

Dear Babeli@ns,

As you may already know, three World Social Forums will simultaneously take place by the end of January 2006. They are for this reason called “Polycentric WSF’s”. The venues will be the cities of Karachi (Pakistan), Bamako (Mali) and Caracas (Venezuela).

Some of us have decided to get involved in the coordination of the Babels’ project for the Forum in Caracas, which is officially called VI World Social Forum and II Forum of the Americas.

After an initial period of silence and uncertainties, the Babels network eventually established regular contacts with the Venezuelan team in charge of organizing the Forum in Caracas, and we have started to work and meet with them as full members, after having previously agreed the political basis and conditions for our participation.

In the case of the Caracas 2006 project, the conditions which define the political component of our involvement reach beyond the already usual elements, such as guaranteeing a hundred per cent of volunteer interpreters; access of the greatest possible number of events to interpreting services; implementing criteria of equal coverage for large, medium and small events, etc. The Caracas Forum has included within the contents of its programme the participation of indigenous (native American) communities. Babels intends to turn such participation into a key milestone of our political experience.

Babels will spare no effort in order for each of these communities to take part and follow presentations in their own language. Babels will actively work together with the Forum organizing committee to get in touch with the greatest possible number of communities and to promote their participation, thus enhancing the WSF’s nature as an increasingly universal and democratic event.

It isn’t a long way from now to January 24th, 2006, but the path will no doubt be full of tasks to carry out as well as technical and logistical uncertainties to solve, a reason for which the team of coordinators for this new Babels’ project expect you all to kindly wish us the best of luck, for we are going to need it.

In solidarity

The Babels Caracas06 Working Group