Daniel Merli
Reporter - Agência Brasil

Caracas - The opening ceremony of the 6th World Social Forum in Caracas, Venezuela, yesterday (24), included a protest against the presence of the United Nations (UN) Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). One of the speakers - there were around 15 - was the Haitian economist, Camille Chalmers, executive secretary of the organization, Haitian Platform for Alternative Development Policy (PAPDA).

Chalmers called the mission "shameful" and called on the "solidarity of the Latin American nations to denounce it." At the present time, a Chilean diplomat, Juan Gabriel Valdés, is head of the MINUSTAH, and a Brazilian general, José Elito Carvalho Siqueira, commands the UN military forces assigned there.

According to the Haitian activist, what the UN is doing is not a form of solidarity with the Haitian people. "The countries present in Haiti are merely performing a service for the United States," he said.

The opening of the 6th Forum was marked by a march, followed by a political demonstration, with the slogan "No to war. No to imperialism. An alternative world is possible."

Translation: David Silberstein