The campaign calls citizens around the world to send messages to G20 Presidents to bring the issue of financial secrecy in tax havens to the November Summit of developed and emerging countries, according to AFP news agency. The campaign calls the people to write especially to Nicolas Sarkozy, since France is chairing the G20 this year.

Christian Aid, CCDF-Terre Solidaire, Latindadd, Oxfam and Tax Justice Network Afrique are among the promoters of the initiative. These social groups estimate tax losses in developing countries at 170,000 million dollars per year, due for instance to companies receiving their profits in bank accounts in tax havens.

Tens of thousands of people from different movements and social organizations from the five continents are participating in the World Social Forum in Dakar, with anti-capitalist and anti-neoliberal features. They are working on issues such as: economic solidarity, fair trade, foreign debt, financial system reforms, food sovereignty, climate justice, human rights, children and women exploitation, migration, decolonization, among other things.

Jubilee South, a network that works against the foreign debt and domination, is present at the Forum where it has been organizing activities about the situation in Haiti, the climate crisis and climate finance, the organization of a Peoples Tribunal on Environmental Debt, among others.

“The main challenge at the World Social Forum is to develop and anti-systemic alternative to fight climate change and the consequences new debts will have on Southern countries”, said Sandra Quintela, Jubilee South / Americas coordinator according to newspaper Tiempo Argentino.

Meanwhile, La Via Campesina, a network made up by farmers organizations from all regions is also present at the Forum working on issues such as violence against women, food sovereignty and land grabbing.

Bolivian President Evo Morales was present at the opening ceremony of the Forum on Sunday. “There is a rebellion against US imperialism”, said Morales with reference to the protests in Egypt and Tunisia. “The peoples’ struggle is unstoppable, even if the US government spends millions and millions to end these social movements”, he added according to Europa Press.

Morales said that the people will continue to rebel while there is injustice in the different continents and while capitalism continues repressing peoples. He also said that the World Social Forum is a message of liberation against imperialism.

According to the Bolivian President, social movements are in charge of “saving humankind, saving planet Earth”. “To save the lives of human beings we must identify the internal and external enemies, we must combat US imperialism and capitalism as their main financial tool that is dominating the peoples of the world”, Morales highlighted.

Photo: http://viacampesina.org