THOUSANDS DECRY U.S. 'NEOLIBERALISM'

PORTO ALEGRE, Brazil - Leonilda Zurita railed against the U.S. yesterday for
backing Bolivia's efforts to curb cultivation of the coca plant - the source
of cocaine but also chewed by poor Bolivians to ease hunger.

Zurita, a Quecha Indian who was handing coca leaves to anyone who approached
her, was among thousands of anti-globalization activists at the third World
Social Forum, a counterpoint to the concurrent World Economic Forum in
Davos, Switzerland.

Though they came from around the world, the activists were united in their
anger at what they call "neoliberalism," or the perceived U.S. control over
the world through free-market economics, liberal trade and the breakdown of
national borders.

"We're living with an undeclared war to defend the coca leaf, which for
Bolivian peasants is a medicine that helps us put up with hunger," Zurita
said. "At the root of this, I say, our struggle is with the United States."

About 30,000 acres of coca are cultivated legally in Bolivia, but there are
many illegal fields the government is destroying with U.S. financial help.

The activists blamed neoliberalism for problems ranging from sweatshops to
environmental devastation and for policies that favor foreign investors.

About 100,000 people attended the six-day forum, which closes today. The
last major protest - a march against war in Iraq and a proposed Free Trade
Area of the Americas - took place last night.

For many here, the United States is a bully that uses economic force to
compel weaker countries to comply with its foreign policy and economic
goals.

Activists from Turkey, for example, believe the U.S. has promised billions
of dollars in debt relief in return for assurances that American forces can
use Turkish soil to launch an invasion of Iraq.

Before hundreds of cheering activists, actor Danny Glover called for the
elimination of the International Money Fund, the World Bank and the World
Trade Organization.

"We have to fight and abolish those financial institutions which place us at
the place where we are now, in this very fragile situation," Glover said.