Bechtel Vs. Bolivia
The Bolivian Water Revolt
In
January 2000, just months after it took over control of the water
system of Bolivia’s third largest city, Cochabamba, a Bechtel
Corporation subsidiary hit water users with enormous price increases.
These increases forced some of the poorest families in South America
to literally choose between food or water. A popular uprising against
the company, repressed violently by government troops, left one
17 year old boy dead and more than a hundred people wounded. In
April 2000 Bechtel was finally forced to leave. In November 2001
Bechtel decided to add to the suffering it had already caused by
filing a legal demand for $25 million against the Bolivian people
– compensation for its lost opportunity to make future profits.
The Democracy Center has played an important role in the water revolt and in the fight against Bechtel’s claim. The Center reported the story, directly from the scene, in a series of dispatches that received honors for the top story of 2000 from Project Censored. The Center was the first to expose that Bechtel was the real force behind the Bolivian water company. The Center has engaged both Bechtel and the World Bank directly on their actions and led the campaign to file an International Citizen’s Petition with the World Bank demanding that the Bechtel vs. Bolivia case be opened.
This section of our Web site includes all our writings on the water revolt, copies of important documents from The Democracy Center, Bechtel, the World Bank and others. We hope it is useful to everyone with an interest in this important and ongoing story of the abusive side of economic globalization.
Jim Shultz’s complete history of the Bolivian water revolt, published in We are Everywhere (Verso Press 2003).
THE RIGHT TO WATER -- FULFILLING THE PROMISE:
A chapter by Jim Shultz from the forthcoming book, Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Latin America: From Theory to Practice. A look at the larger issue of access to water across the world and the Bolivian water revolt in the context of the struggle to secure water as a human right.
Tom Kruse's excellent photographs of the Cochabamba Water Revolt.
REPORTS FROM THE SCENE – 2000:
The Democracy Center’s complete dispatches from the Cochabamba water revolt, winner of the 2000 Project Censored award for top story.
INTERNATIONAL CITIZEN'S PETITION TO THE WORLD BANK:
In August 2002 more than 300 citizen groups from 41 different countries filed this petition, demanding that the Bechtel vs. Bolivia case be opened to public participation and scrutiny. Read the petition and see who endorsed it.
The background on Bechtel’s role in the Bolivian water takeover and its legal actions against Bolivia. Includes exchanges of correspondence between The Democracy Center and Bechtel officials and a link allowing you to write directly to Bechtel’s CEO.
The background on the World Bank’s role in the Bolivian water takeover, including exchanges of correspondence between The Democracy Center and World Bank officials.
COCHABAMBA’S WATER BILLS FROM BECHTEL:
The direct proof of Bechtel’s continued mistruths about what it did in Bolivia – viewable copies of the water bills with Bechtel’s increases and a chart of the water rate hikes drawn directly from the water company’s computers.
To other resources about the water revolt, including the New Yorker article and PBS film based on The Democracy Center’s original work.
How Bechtel Lost its $50 Million Case Against Bolivia:
The people of the world join with Bolivia to beat back Bechtel in its legal demand for $50 million. Read the details.
Water in Cochabamba After the Water Revolt a Leyend With Mixed Results
But what happened in Cochabamba afterwards? What did the Water Revolt mean for the people and their thirst for clean, affordable water. In this paper, The Democracy Center takes an unvarnished look at the track record since April 2000. The paper is an excerpt from a chapter on the Water Revolt, in the Center's forthcoming book: Dignity and Defiance – Stories from Bolivia's Challenge to Globalization (University of California Press, 2008).
Read the full paper in pdf format here