WATER CRISIS

In February of 2000 a popular protest in Cochabamba turned into a deadly revolt. The nation’s army battled protestors in the streets on and off for three months, hundreds were arrested, many were killed, and the government of Bolivia nearly collapsed. The controversy issue was about water.

 

Bolivia is a landlocked country located in South America. Within central Bolivia lies a city named Cochabamba. Cochabamba’s fertile productive soil allows the city to be the agriculture center of Bolivia and is a leading contributor to the country’s economy. Cochabamba is the second largest city in Bolivia and according to the GeoNames geographical database the population is 900,414 and is 70 sq. miles. Although the state is very important to the country economically and culturally, half of the population lives in poverty. Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America. According to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, which published an in depth report in December 2009, the latest poverty data available is from 2007. It shows that 60 percent of the population live in poverty and 37 percent in extreme poverty. 80.2 percent have access to electricity, 86 percent have access to running water, and only 50.8 percent have sewage system connections.

 

For the past years Bolivia has been following the order of international advanced communities by selling the countries companies and resources. In being pressured by the World Bank, Bolivia’s conservative government desperately signed a 40-year lease. This placed Cochabamba’s water system into the hands of the Bechtel. Bechtel is among the most respected private owned construction and engineering companies in the United States.

 

The company was supposed to extend water access to unserved communities. Within weeks of taking over, Bechtel raised Cochabamba’s water rates by an average of 50 percent or higher based on certain areas. In addition of adding to the existing infrastructure to reach unserved communities, the company took over the public system infrastructure that was already in place, local wells, and water pumps. The inflation of water prices came in when the costs for these renovations and additions were elapsed on to customers, sometimes doubling the cost many people had previously been paying when water systems were controlled by the government. Citizens were riled by the privatization of the company Bechtel. “Some families faced rate hikes of as much as 400 percent. Delia de Flores, a secretary, says that her three-person family's monthly water bill was hiked from about $5 to almost $30, even though her family economizes by washing clothes just once per week” (Ceasar). Many citizens were not able to pay such high costs, and even though water was now available to them, they couldn’t access it because they couldn’t afford it. According to World Bank, basing on 2012 data, the GNI per capita in Bolivia is $4,880. In looking at the average income, the inflation of water prices were damaging to the pocketbooks of the citizens.

 

The economic shock led to increased gas prices, unequal distribution of wealth, a severe recession and massive unemployment. All of these factors added more fuel to the fire and the city began to breakout in riots. From February to April of 2000, a diverse group of civilian protestors (students, employees, shop vendors) participated in citywide violent riots in making barricades and blockading major highways in Bolivia. In response the government arrested many strikers. In being unable to control the chaotic violence, the riots belittled the plans international investors and the local government. The debarment of the Bechtel Company developed chaos in Bolivia water delivery and gave a serious blow to foreign investment in the country. “A year later Bechtel sued the people of Cochabamba in a trade court operated by that same World Bank, seeking a payment of $50 million after making investments in Cochabamba of less than $1 million. A huge international campaign—ranging from legal petitions to direct action at Bechtel’s San Francisco headquarters—forced Bechtel to settle for a token payment of thirty cents” (Shultz).

 

The protestors who fought and rioted kicked Bechtel out and finally took control of the water system, promising to manage not as a commodity, but as a human right. The protestors won the war in the streets, but without new investment, they have been unable to improve or expand service. The “Water Wars” demonstrated socioeconomic issues, which lead to radical changes in the structure of the Bolivian government and the nature of advanced private foreign companies. Today much of Bolivia still suffers from limited access to water and poor sanitation.