In 1999, when a subsidiary of the multinational Bechtel took over managing water services in Cochabamba, Bolivia – as part of a wave of privatizations in the country – tariffs were hiked, forcing most residents to pay a fifth of their earnings for this vital provision.
Rainwater was deemed Bechtel’s property and its collection banned, leaving residents captive to the company’s tariffs.
A coalition quickly took shape to organize protests through assemblies. It involved factory workers, the urban poor and Indigenous groups – who also questioned anyone’s ‘right’ to own any natural resource. After protesters occupied the city square in April 2000, the army was sent in, killing several and injuring 175. Hundreds of thousands managed to retake the space, holding mass meetings. At these, as an observer described, ‘anyone could speak, but… to be heard you had to take action’. After months of protest, water was returned to public control and is now administered with some community involvement – although it still falls short of what campaigners sought.
The revolt opened a wave of struggles which ushered in political change. ‘Water wars’ were repeated in other cities. Gas and oil privatizations sparked an insurrectionary movement that in 2003 brought down President Gonzalo Sánchez de Lozada, who instigated them. His replacement, Carlos Mesa, promised to revoke them, but after failing to fully do so, was also forced to resign two years later. The ensuing general election was won by Indigenous farmer Evo Morales – one of the faces of the movement.
The record of the governments of Morales and his MAS party has been mixed. Highway construction in Indigenous territory met resistance similar to that which brought him to office, and, despite claims it had been, hydrocarbon extraction was never re-nationalized. Yet by increasing taxes on such activity, the government funded programmes that lifted many out of poverty. This helped MAS win successive elections and even survive an effective coup in 2019.
At the World Bank, Bechtel claimed $50 million compensation for its lost water contract. It eventually settled for 30 cents!
