Controversy
The broad business concept shaping the forum was largely drawn up by ESADE. The link between the forum's commercial sponsors and the business school can readily be appreciated by comparing the companies listed on ESADE's Board of Trustees and those featured on the forum's web site. The strong business orientation apparent in the organization of the event gave rise to considerable local controversy in both the run-up to the forum and during the event itself. Several NGOs argued that they were frozen out of the decision-making process as the original Forum concept was radically altered to cater to corporate interests. The controversy may have also damaged the re-election prospects of Barcelona's incumbent Mayor—Joan Clos i Matheu—a point that was repeatedly made by political commentators in local and national newspapers across the political spectrum.
The campaign against the forum took many forms. One of the biggest demonstrations consisted of a seaborne invasion by anti-Forum protesters landing in makeshift rafts. This dealt a serious blow to the event's carefully groomed media image, particularly when Jordi Oliveras, the forum's Director-General was kicked by a demonstrator and Miquel Miró, the Director of Operations, was hit over the head by one of the forum's security guards. The "invasion" was widely reported in the press, despite the fact that major newspapers, radio and television stations had been co-opted into the forum under a special media consortium agreement.
The choice of some speakers at the forum's "dialogues" also sparked protest. An article in one of Catalonia's mass circulation dailies argued that Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada (former President of Bolivia and a keynote speaker at a Forum conference on development problems in South America) was a less than ideal choice. Lozada had a major stake in Bolivia's highly polluting Potosi mine and the previous year had taken a flight to Miami while the Bolivian military machine-gunned striking miners at home.
The forum also attracted the ire of demonstrators when the organizers refused to condemn the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The fact that several of the forum's sponsors had significant stakes in the arms industry further exacerbated protests.
Critics pointed to the $2.3 billion price tag and commercial sponsorship by multinationals ENDESA, Nestlé, Coca-Cola, Telefónica, and Indra] with dubious reputations in the Third World. Several groups also criticised the massive property and coastline destruction involved in building the forum site. In addition, many non-governmental organizations (NGOs), including Greenpeace and Amnesty International, withdrew from the forum project in protest. This may explain why the forum fell so far short of its projected attendance figures for the 141-day event. The forum expected 5 million visitors but the official final attendance figure was around 3.5 million. Independent estimates of attendance were significantly lower.
Read more about this topic: 2004 Universal Forum Of Cultures
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