NEWS BRIEFS

Chavez in all His Glory

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is determined to add colour to an already festive WSF. The man himself will ride into town tomorrow for an encounter with newshounds, both local and foreign. Little is known of what the Venezuelan leader plans doing after the press conference, to be held at 5 p.m. at the Planaria Joao Neves da Fontura.
The WSF venues, though, will be a no-go area for the charismatic Chavez in keeping with the WSF’s ideas of maintaining a distance from political leaders. After all, despite his overwhelming popularity, Brazilian President Lula was not officially welcome.

Computer Systems Bugged

The positive vibes in Porto Alegre were little match to fend off a virus that hit the WSF computer systems yesterday. Internet traffic slowed down dramatically here, like in many parts across the world where the computer “worm” struck.
The bug in the system drew comments from speakers at yesterday afternoon’s session here on “New Technologies and Strategies for Digital Inclusion and Social Transformation.’’
South Korea’s Internet systems disappeared for many hours, said Carlos Afonso, a Brazilian information technology expert. “It also affected an important sector of Brazil.”

Death Row Blues

Participants at the WSF got a chance yesterday to hear from two African-American men in the United States who are free at last from the hangman’s noose. The two men – Aaron Patterson and Leroy Orange – were among 167 death-row inmates who were pardoned this month by the former governor of the U.S. state of Illinois.
“We are excited to be at the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, since the international community recognises the death penalty for what it is: a human rights violation that must come to an end,’’ said Joan Parkin of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty in the U.S. in a media release.
Patterson’s and Orange’s views were beamed to the WSF during a videoconference that linked the Brazilian city with Chicago.

Tales from Africa

African activists at the WSF met yesterday morning to share their tales about the African Social Forum, which was held in the Nigerian capital of Abuja from Jan 6-7. WSF representatives from other regional groups are having mini-meetings here and are expected to issue regional messages on Tuesday, the closing day of the WSF. The African activists, for instance, are keen on ensuring that the continent’s perspective is projected during the major sessions at future social fora.