When Bechtel Owned the Rain
I completely missed these events
when they occurred. When I first
heard about them I wondered if I misunderstood. I did not. Just
in case you missed what happened, like I did, please check out the following:
In 1997 the World Bank, with
support of the International Monetary Fund, told Bolivia that additional aid
for water development was conditional upon Bolivia privatizing the public water
system in the two largest urban settings, El Alto/La Paz and Cochabama. In September of 1999 the government of
Bolivia contracted with the only bidder, Bechtel, which has its home office in
San Francisco, California, to have the corporation run the municipal water and
sewage system in Cochabama, Bolivia for forty years. The contract reportedly gave the government 2.5 billion
dollars. In exchange, Bechtel was
guaranteed a return of 16% on their investment. In addition to the municipal
system Bechtel claimed control over the water in wells and rain.
In Bolivia, 70% of the population
earns less than the poverty level of wages. In January of 2000 protestors shut
down Cocabama for four days complaining that waters bills had doubled or
tripled since the corporation took over.
During the “water war” that followed government forces were set loose on
the civilian population. In the
single month of April that year, six demonstrators were killed and dozens were
wounded. Despite the deaths and
injuries, public protestors refused to give in, saying they could not pay their
water bills and still have enough money to feed their families.
On April 10 control of the water
and sewer system was turned over to a grass roots agency in Bolivia known as La
Coordinadora that came into existence as the result of the “water war.”
In December of 2001 Bechtel issued
a statement reading in part…”for the poorest people in Cocabamam rates went up
barely 10%.” Bechtel sought $25 million dollars in compensation from the
Bolivian government blaming the contract cancelation not on the nation-wide
protests but on an “unstable government.”
A mediated settlement was reached
four years later. Bechtel and a partner dropped their legal action in return
for a token payment.
What’s next? Will we be charged for breathing clean
air?
What is your reaction?
