Tens of thousands of international activists gathered in Caracas on Tuesday for the World Social Forum to protest US imperialism and debate topics from fair trade to indigenous rights. The event bills itself as nonpartisan. But much attention will focus on Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, a self-styled socialist revolutionary, who has become a regional standard-bearer for left-wing, anti-US movements since allying himself with Cuba. The sixth world forum, an event that began in Porto Alegre in Brazil, registered more than 67,000 participants and starts with a march against imperialism that will likely focus on US President George W. Bush and the US-led Iraq war.

“This is a process that can bring change for everyone,” said Colombian Lucy Martinez, who belongs to a solidarity group with Cuba. “It’s great that it is here in Venezuela because Chavez, like Fidel Castro, is an example for everyone.”

Ecuadorean Indians in traditional shawls sat among piles of their luggage while Brazilian students checked out street stalls offering Che Guevara T-shirts and bracelets, watches and posters printed with Chavez’s image. Lines of participants waiting to register snaked inside a Caracas theater complex and others set up a campsite in a nearby public park.

Many traveled by road from neighboring Brazil and Colombia. At least four Brazilian students were killed and 11 injured when their bus crashed in Peru in route to Caracas.

<B>“Bush terrorist”</B>

The forum began as an alternative to the gathering of world leaders in Davos, Switzerland, but it is now a broad movement where activists campaign and discuss topics as varied as gay rights, debt forgiveness and anti-globalization. Two similar events have been organized for Mali and Pakistan.

At the start of the Caracas forum, Cuba’s National Assembly speaker Ricardo Alarcon held an “open court” to accuse Bush of protecting a Cuban-born former CIA operative wanted by Havana and Caracas for the bombing of a Cuban airliner in 1976. “We all know Mr Bush is a terrorist,” Alarcon said. “But I want to indulge him, up to a certain point, he is not guilty. He learned to be a terrorist from the crib, he carries it in his blood.” A US judge last year ruled Luis Posada Carriles, who is also blamed for bomb attacks on Havana hotels, could not be extradited to Venezuela.

The forum took place just days after Bolivia’s Evo Morales became the latest left-wing president to assume power in South America on a wave of regional rejection of US-backed free-market economic policies. Venezuela’s Chavez has branded Bush “Mr. Danger” and says he is bringing socialism to the world’s No. 5 oil exporter to better the lives of the poor. Chavez, who often claims inspiration from South American liberation hero Simon Bolivar, says he has sought out trade and energy deals with South American neighbors to counter Washington’s damaging influence in the region.

US officials dismiss Chavez’s accusations that they are plotting his overthrow. They say the tough-talking, retired army paratrooper is working with Cuba as a destabilizing force in other South American countries.

<B>Patrick MARKEY</B>