The World Social Forum has succeeded in changing the global politicalagenda, said Brazilian president Luiz Inacio “Lula” da Silva in PortoAlegre last night.

In a speech delivered in front of an estimated 100,000 participants at the close of the second day of the third annual WSF, Lula publicly thanked the organizers: “In only threeyears,” he said, “you, the organizers of the Forum, havesucceeded in making the World Social Forum the most importantpolitical event of the year, and that is no smallaccomplishment.”

Today, he said, the WSF is “on the front pages ofall the important newspapers of the world,” and the discourse ofthe civil society can no longer be ignored.

Lula promised to deliver the message of social forum to the World EconomicForum in Davos, which he is currently attending. There have beenmuted criticisms of Lula’s participation in Davos, but he brushedthese aside, saying that the message of the global civil society isas valid in Davos as anywhere else. “I was invited to Davosthanks to the World Social Forum,” he said, promising to deliverthe same message there as in Porto Alegre.

Throughout his personal political history, he said, he was frequentlywarned by those “older and wiser” to avoid associating withpowerful interests because of the risk of co-optation, but that samehistory demonstrates the possibility of success: within the Braziliantrade union movement; in the struggle for the return of democracy toBrazil during the military dictatorship; and in the long ascent topower of the Workers Party (PT), of which he was a founder. The PT is today “the most important left-wing party in LatinAmerica,” he said, and he recognised that his victory and thatof his party has not just raised expectations in Brazil, but also forthe left in Latin America and the rest of the world.

Lula, who took office less than four weeks ago, took the opportunityto reiterate his promise to make the elimination of hunger the firstpriority of his government. “As president of Brazil, I ampresident of a country in which millions of children do not haveenough to eat. That cannot be allowed to continue,” adding thatthis project is as important for the rest of the world as it is forBrazil. “I will tell them [in Davos] that the children of Africaand Latin America have just as much right to eat as the children ofthe countries of the North.”

While the developed countries have been instrumental in maintainingpoverty in Latin America, Lula emphasized that “part of thecause is that Latin America has been governed by an elite which hasnot governed for the people, which has robbed their owncountries.” Billions of dollars have been transferred to privatebank accounts in the North, he said, naming former Peruvian presidentAlberto Fujimori and Argentina’s Carlos Menem as specific examples.

“If the rich countries want to help, let them stop acceptingmoney from drug traffic, from governments that simply rob their owncountries,” Lula said to the roaring, exuberant crowd.