Lula Sneaks in the Back Door

By Marwaan Macan-Markar

Political theatre buffs were served an early afternoon treat Sunday at the main WSF building at PUC. The matinee came with drums and flags, bodies on the floor symbolising death, but then came the main act, the giant face and booming voice of a man of these times.

For onlookers, it was attention grabbing stuff, beginning with the drumbeats of the men championing the cause of Palestine. The red, white and black flag of the occupied people, the familiar black-and-white chequered shawl and the red flags of Brazil’s Worker’s Party added to the colour of the moment.

Vying against that din was the group performing a death act to condemn the multinational corporations placing profit over people in the case of anti-AIDS drugs. They held up signs to make their point and then collapsed on the floor as a poignant reminder of the death that comes with profit.

But the hands-down crowd puller was the man who was forbidden to enter the hallowed grounds of the WSF venues – Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva.

And his means of permeating the "no politicians" barrier was a treat: he entered television. In the press centre and in the main hallway, the Brazilians in the crowd gravitated towards the screens that were giving a live telecast of Lula delivering his speech to the captains of capitalism at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss resort town of Davos.

It was a speech that triggered applause and cheers in the crowd. Lines such as "the world spends too much on weapons" resonated with the Brazilians.

Through it all, one twist of irony became clear, that Lula had unwittingly broken a rule written by the very movement – the WSF – he helped father only a few years ago.

The Brazilian leader had not only made his presence felt in the area declared out-of-bounds for political leaders, but -- and here’s the rub -- he emerged as a far more popular draw than the conferences and workshops in progress.

It was an irony, however, that least fazed some of the Brazilians in the standing-room only crowd. "We feel good, since we are watching a moment of history," said Sandro Eduardo Sarda, a Brazilian HIV/AIDS activist.

For Roselaine Boeira da Silva, the president’s speech was a lovely surprise.

"I came here to take some pictures of the demonstrations and then was attracted to his voice and the screen," said the Porto Alegre resident.

"He is very popular; the people identify closely with him," she added. "That is why you cannot keep him out."

Yet the WSF is clearly sticking to its guns about politicos not welcome at its festival of free spirits and a thousand political causes, in the same way it refuses to have a hierarchy despite the emergence of a WSF elite.

Perhaps Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez could take a lesson from Lula.