the largest port, surely rings a bell in many a mind as being the last British pier for RMS Titanic to call at before commencing her unfortunate voyage across the Atlantic.Another popular harbour lying by Solent shores is Portsmouth, from where before-mentioned enigmatic islands are best reached: the Solent Forts, a group of sturdy man-made islands built in the late 19th century to ward off sea-born attack. The three Forts – Spitbank, No Man’s Land and Horse Sand – were decommissioned after WW II, lay dormant for a number of years, put up for sale in the 1960s seeing changing ownership. Today, the Solent Forts offer luxurious accommodation incorporated in extraordinary venues and are owned and managed by the AmaZing Venues company. www.amazingvenues.co.uk/solent-forts

Redheads are redheads because of their‘Real changes haven’t arrived yet’

As the World Social Forum opens in Porto Alegre, Alex Callinicos from Britain, Nicola Bullard from Focus on the Global South in Thailand and Javier Carles from Uruguay ask what we have gained and what we still have to win

Published Sat 22 Jan 2005

Issue No. 1935

ON 1 January 1994 the Zapatistas broke the imperialist tranquillity of Latin America. Five years later and a large part of the continent had entered a period of revolts, government changes and general strikes that continues to the present day. In January 2000 a revolt by the Ecuadorians against the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demolished the government of Jamil Mahuad.

In April of the same year another revolt shook the Andean region. Peasants and workers’ organisations from Cochabamba, in Bolivia