www.washingtonpost.com By Nora Boustany Friday, January 24, 2003; Page A24

When Cesar Gaviria, the purposeful and earnest secretary general of the Organization of American States, was in Caracas, Venezuela, last November, working to defuse mounting tension between the government and its opponents, people would leap to their feet to give him a standing ovation when he walked into restaurants.

Today, 54 days into a crippling yet inconclusive strike intended to topple President Hugo Chavez, most of those eateries and cafes are shut down. So are the art galleries that Gaviria liked to visit for relaxation, as are the cinemas and theaters.

For most of the last three months, Gaviria has goaded Chavez and representatives of the opposition to the negotiating table for talks at the posh Hotel Melia. After each session, he has retired to his room, where nightly he heard the cacophony of demonstrators clanking pots and pans outside. The opposition holds its casserole march at 8:30, and the Chavistas show up at 10.

"I never thought it was going to take this long," Gaviria said on the eve of a meeting of a six-nation "group of friends" in Washington today to discuss ways of solving the conflict. Since early November, his family life has been on hold. He allowed himself 24 hours in Washington over Christmas and a couple of days for New Year's, with a weekend or two in Bogota or Miami.

Gaviria, who served as president of Colombia from 1990 to 1994, is not a novice at wading into Latin America's thicket of conflict and passion-driven egos. With the OAS, he has helped to avert a coup in Paraguay and to oversee a smooth transition to democratic rule in Peru after the rocky last days of President Alberto Fujimori. He continues to skirt disaster in Haiti as he pursues a political settlement. As leader of Colombia, he had to converse with drug lords and guerrillas to survive.

But Gaviria has never seen or experienced a crisis such as the one in Venezuela, which has polarized the entire population. "I don't remember such turmoil in the streets since Argentina and the days of Evita Peron," he said.

The strike in Venezuela was called by the opposition on Dec. 2, with protesters demanding Chavez resign or hold early elections or a referendum on his rule, not due to end until 2007. The shutdown has slashed Venezuela's oil production, choking off revenue, slashing oil exports to the United States and leading to a 25 percent devaluation of the Venezuelan bolivar.

Gaviria said the strike could have been avoided. "We had several occasions when we were very close to lifting the strike," he said of the intensive talks attended by both sides as well as by a representative of former president Jimmy Carter. Gaviria has conferred weekly with Carter since the beginning of the process, even when Carter was in Norway late last year to receive the Nobel Peace Prize. Gaviria has met with Chavez five times since the standoff began.

Gaviria said he offered his services to the Caracas government and its detractors last summer after Chavez invited Carter to mediate. The OAS Council gave Gaviria a mandate to proceed, and he has been at it ever since.

"We are there as the OAS to find peaceful solutions. We are obliged to keep trying, and we are trying to learn as we go along," Gaviria said. "In some places, we have been successful, like in Peru, and in others not, such as Haiti. We have been learning to defend democracy in very difficult circumstances. Though there is no certainty of success, everyone recognizes that we are doing our best."

Gaviria has come under attack by both sides in Venezuela but has managed to keep the lid on violence, emphasizing to negotiators the urgency of staying within "an electoral solution" even if the constitution has to be amended to satisfy both sides. Despite difficult days such as Dec. 6, when demonstrators were killed in one of the city's plazas, "When I see both parties coming to the table day after day and working hard, I imagine they want an agreement and they respect one another," he said.

He is grateful that loss of life has been kept to a minimum, praising Venezuelans' standards of human rights. He said he is not concerned if leaders coming to the fore in Brazil, Peru and Venezuela are of a more populist, leftist strain than their predecessors, provided they do not resort to "authoritarian practices that are not part of the rule of law. What concerns me is not whether they were generals, but how they use their power once they are elected."

Colombia's ambassador to the United States, Luis Alberto Moreno, who served in Gaviria's cabinet when he was president and helped manage his presidential campaign, said Gaviria has evolved into a world statesman since he was elected head of the OAS in 1994. "Under him, the OAS is filling the space it ought to occupy and becoming more relevant," Moreno said yesterday in an interview from Davos, Switzerland.

Regardless of the intractability of the crisis in Venezuela, Moreno noted, Gaviria's "personality and his steadiness are critical for dealing with this situation. There is nobody in the international community who has the understanding and the patience which he has shown."

However, Luis Lauredo, a former U.S. ambassador to the OAS, cautioned that a secretary general can go only as far as the member states allow him.

"Gaviria has been a transitional figure in leading the OAS into a new era of proactive and preventive diplomacy," Lauredo said in an interview from Miami. "Everybody is attacking him, which means he is trying to be fair, and his biggest contribution is that he is a witness to what is going on, so I applaud his engagement."

news.sify.com Illinois, Jan 24

The world's biggest fast-food chain, McDonald's Corp., on Thursday reported its first quarterly loss since its birth in 1955, as it shut down hundreds of outlets.

Losses amounted to 343.8 million dollars, or 27 cents a share, in the three months to December 31, compared with a year-earlier net profit of 271.9 million dollars, or 21 cents a share, the group said in a statement.

Revenue for the group, which serves an estimated 46 million customers daily in 121 countries, rose 3.4 percent to 3.90 billion dollars in the quarter.

"Our first priority is to fix our existing business and, in doing so, rebuild our foundation for profitable growth," said chairman and chief executive Jim Cantalupo.

McDonald's said it recorded 810.2 million dollars in charges in the fourth quarter related to restructuring, including the closure of 719 restaurants, mostly in the United States and Japan.

McDonald's said it planned to close 600 restaurants in 2003, of which 517 closures had already been announced.

At the same time, however, it expected to open 850 traditional restaurants, 380 satellite restaurants and 150 partner brand outlets, the group said.

McDonald's said it would provide no earnings-per-share targets for the first quarter of 2003 or the full year, because it was focused on improving results over the longer term.

"Considering the size of our business, 10-to-15-percent earnings per share growth target is not realistic," Cantalupo said. "We will seek reasonable growth that creates shareholder value."

Despite a tough year, including the loss of 13.9 million dollars in Venezuela, where all of its outlets were shut by a general strike, McDonald's got some good news on the eve of its results.

A US federal judge on Wednesday threw out a suit filed on behalf of children who claimed McDonald's caused their obesity by failing to warn that its burgers and fries could make them fat.

"It is not the place of the law to protect them against their own excesses," Judge Robert Sweet said in dismissing the case before it got to trial.

"Nobody is forced to eat at McDonald's."

The fast-food group said its sales were boosted in the fourth quarter and the whole of 2002 by a restaurant expansion.

Despite the closures of underperforming restaurants in 2002, McDonald's also opened 1,639 new outlets in the year.

Over 2002 as a whole, net profit at McDonald's slumped 45.4 percent from a year earlier to 893.5 million dollars. But sales bulged 3.6 percent to 11.50 billion dollars.

US sales increased in the fourth quarter and the full year, although there was a general slowdown in the restaurant industry in the second half of 2002, it said.

European sales rose, helped by a strong performance in France but offset by weakness in Germany and Britain.

In Asia, Japanese sales were down, partly because of the weak economy and stubborn fears about mad cow disease. But revenue expanded in China, McDonald's said.

www.ipsnews.net Mario Osava

The international board of the World Social Forum (WSF) decided Wednesday that the giant annual meeting of social activists and left-leaning political leaders and academics will be held in India in 2004, before returning to Brazil the following year.

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil, Jan 22 (IPS) - The international board of the World Social Forum (WSF) decided Wednesday that the giant annual meeting of social activists and left-leaning political leaders and academics will be held in India in 2004, before returning to Brazil the following year. The process of selecting the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, which hosted the regional Asian Social Forum Jan 2-7, as the site of the fourth WSF involved lengthy discussions because the organisers in India had asked for one month to assess whether they were in a position to take on the enormous responsibility. But in the end, the aim of ''internationalising'' the forum by holding some of the meetings in other regions won out. Porto Alegre, where the first two meetings were held, will continue to be the host every other year. The third WSF opens Thursday with an inaugural ceremony and a massive march through the streets of Porto Alegre, the capital of the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, which will kick off five days of panels and workshops on the pressing problems facing today's world and on how to build a better future for humanity. One novel aspect will be the presence of Brazil's new President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, a former steelworker, on Friday. This will be the first time that a head of government or state addresses the gathering of social movements, non-governmental organisations, and leftist political parties and academics. Lula took part in and spoke at the first two meetings in Porto Alegre, but he did so as the head of the leftist Workers' Party (PT) and possible presidential candidate for the October 2002 elections that he ended up winning in a landslide victory. This time around he will be speaking as president of this South American country of 170 million, in the midst of a controversy over his decision to also attend the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland. His plans to participate in the WEF on Saturday and Sunday drew fire from many people taking part in the WSF, which emerged precisely as a sort of counterpoint to the annual meeting of the world's most powerful business and political leaders in Switzerland. Unlike the first two editions, the WSF was preceded this year by a series of preparatory gatherings, held in the past five months. For instance, Argentina held a Thematic Social Forum in August, the European Social Forum took place in Florence, Italy in November, the Asian Social Forum was held in early January, and the Pan-Amazon Social Forum took place in Belém, in northern Brazil, on Jan 16-19. In addition, three events held in the run-up to the WSF ended Wednesday in Porto Alegre. One of them was the World Economic Forum, which drew 20,000 educators and experts from around the globe Sunday through Wednesday, who took part in 60 panels, seminars and debates that discussed 785 papers on experiences and innovations in education and heard more than 200 speakers. The ''decolonisation'' of education, popular education, democratic participation, and the effects of armed conflicts on schools in Angola, southern Mexico and Colombia were several of the subjects discussed at the gathering, which was held for the second year in a row as part of the WSF. The third Forum of Local Authorities for Social Inclusion, which brought together around 1,000 mayors and other participants from 26 countries on Tuesday and Wednesday, called for ''contracts'' between governments and civil society to tackle serious problems like lack of access to health care and education. Among the proposals set forth by the meeting was the drawing up of an ''Agenda 21'' for cities, in favour of the development of culture and the creation of an international network that would link all mayors' associations in a single global movement. Culture should be viewed as ''a basic social necessity'' based on the recognition of diversity, the right to identity by all ethnic and social groups, and the right to recreation, education and the use of public spaces, said Margarete Moraes, culture secretary of the city of Porto Alegre. The deepening of participative democracy in municipal governments was advocated by Portuguese sociologist Boaventua de Sousa Santos and mayors like Bernard Birsinger of Bobigny, France, and Edmilson Rodrigues of the northern Brazilian city of Belém. Judges also held their second global forum Monday through Wednesday, with the presence of 510 members of the judiciaries of countries in the Americas and Europe. The speakers underscored the need for regional and international courts, due to the frequent clash between the interests of transnational corporations (TNCs) and human rights. The judges pointed, for example, to the frequent disregard of the environment by TNCs when conservation efforts cut into their profit margins. In addition, they said that respect for citizen rights required the real possibility of taking TNCs to court. Only truly independent judges aware of their role in society can exercise the law in such a way as to check the advance of the political and economic powers, the magistrates said in their final declaration, which called a new meeting in Brazil next year. Two other global gatherings, of trade unionists and parliamentarians, began Wednesday. Around 600 labour activists are discussing the challenges of globalisation in their first two-day meeting organised in Porto Alegre by the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, the World Confederation of Labour, and the European Trade Union Confederation. Meanwhile, legislators from around the world are holding their third meeting parallel to the WSF, which will run through Friday, and the World Farmworkers Assembly is taking place Tuesday through Thursday. Finally, the Intercontinental Youth Camp and the World Junior Forum have drawn youngsters from all over the world. Organising the WSF and the parallel and national or regional gatherings is a gargantuan task involving fund-raising efforts by many organisations around the world that have scarce finances, especially since the number of participants in the WSF has basically doubled each year. This year more than 100,000 people are expected, since 30,000 delegates and 70,000 participants have signed up. The organising costs will run to nearly 3.5 million dollars, said Candido Grzybowski, one of the members of the Brazilian organising committee. Only 800,000 dollars are coming from the registration fees paid by participants, he added. The governments of the state of Rio Grande do Sul and Porto Alegre are donating a total of 600,000 dollars, the Ford Foundation has provided 500,000 dollars, and the state-owned Bank of Brazil and Petrobras oil company are donating 400,000 dollars. (END)

www.voanews.com VOA News 23 Jan 2003, 13:12 UTC

The World Economic Forum has opened in Davos, Switzerland, as business and political leaders from across the globe discuss such issues as corporate ethics, terrorism and Iraq.

The six-day meeting is being held amid tight security to protect high profile guests. Jordan's King Abdullah, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell are all scheduled to attend. Participants are expected to discuss the global effects of the corporate scandals that plagued the business world last year. They will also examine the effects of the international war on terrorism and the possibility of a U.S.-led war in Iraq.

The annual forum in Davos coincides with the World Social Forum in Porto Alegre, Brazil. There, as many as 100,000 anti-globalization advocates are expected to discuss the financial problems of the developing world, threats to the environment and human rights issues.

Brazil's new president, Luis Inacio Lula da Silva, is expected to attend both events to deliver speeches on hunger and poverty.

asia.cnn.com As many as 100,000 activists expected to attend Thursday, January 23, 2003 Posted: 8:54 PM HKT (1254 GMT)

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil (AP) -- Globalization foes were flocking to Brazil for the World Social Forum, the annual protest against the World Economic Forum held simultaneously at a Swiss ski resort.

The six-day event begins Thursday in the far southern city of Porto Alegre. As many as 100,000 activists are expected to attend from countries as diverse as Egypt, India and the United States.

The third annual social forum was featuring Brazil's new president, Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva -- the country's first elected leftist leader who on Friday will become the first government leader ever to personally address the forum. Government officials previously had been excluded.

Silva will then fly to Davos, Switzerland, to participate in the economic forum, which is expected to attract 2,000 business and government leaders.

The landslide election of Silva, a former radical union leader, in October was seen as a rejection of the free-market policies of his predecessor Fernando Henrique Cardoso.

Social forum participants say their opposition to unfettered American-style capitalism should strike a responsive chord this year. The summit follows a year of unprecedented business scandals involving multinational corporations, many of them with headquarters in the United States.

"Washington always preaches to the developing world about eliminating corruption and the rule of law," said Mark Weisbrot, an economist who co-directs the Center for Economic and Policy Research in Washington, D.C. "Here you see the United States has experienced corruption that is worse than anything in developing countries."

Variety of themes up for discussion

Participants will crowd into a soccer stadium and Porto Alegre's Catholic University for hundreds of panel discussions, debates and seminars on themes ranging from corporate misdeeds to the Third World's foreign debt.

They can also dance at a concert by Brazilian pop superstar Jorge Ben Jor, attend Japanese Noh theater presentations or even see a drag queen show.

Prominent activists attending the forum include actor Danny Glover, anarchist and linguistics professor Noam Chomsky and Aleida Guevara, the daughter of legendary guerrilla leader Ernesto "Che" Guevara.

French anti-globalization activist Jose Bove said Wednesday he had no plans to create disruption as he did at the first forum in 2001 -- when he led the invasion and occupation of a farm owned by U.S. agribusiness giant Monsanto. Brazil made him leave the country.

Bove, a farmer who became famous in 1999 when he and nine others used farm equipment to dismantle a French McDonald's under construction, said there's no need now that Silva is in power.

"Things have changed in Brazil," he said.

Activists also are using the forum as a way to draw media attention to their opposition to a possible U.S.-led war against Iraq.

People at the economic forum in Davos should take notice because the world economy will suffer if President Bush decides to attack, said Rainer Rilling, a German social sciences professor with the Berlin-based Rosa Luxembourg Foundation. "We hope a war can still be avoided."