COLOMBIA: Campaign Seeks to Make Water a Constitutional Right

[Judi Lynn]

Source: IPS News

COLOMBIA: Campaign Seeks to Make Water a Constitutional Right
By Helda Martínez

BOGOTA, Aug 24 (IPS) - Sixty environmental, indigenous, labour and social organisations in Colombia are carrying out a campaign for a constitutional amendment that would make access to clean water a fundamental right.

The proponents of the initiative have already fulfilled the first legal requirement by collecting some 135,000 signatures, equivalent to five out of every 1,000 registered voters.
(snip)

Once the signatures are certified as valid by the Registraduría Nacional del Estado Civil (national registry), the organisations will have to gain the support of 1.5 million Colombians in order for Congress to call a referendum in which voters would decide in favour of or against the proposed constitutional amendment.
(snip)

In this country of 42 million, nearly 12 million people have no access to clean water and four million have limited access, i.e. to a public faucet, according to the Defensoría del Pueblo (ombudsman’s office).

Read more: http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=39013

[Chulanowa]

1. Just like Casto!

Socialism! Communism! Authoritarianism! and most of all, :sarcasm:!!!

[aquart]

2. I like that. Let's do it.

[dipsydoodle]

3. Which Latin American country

was it that until recently had their water supply privatised to a USA corporation to the extent the locals had to buy drinking water ?

[ret5hd]

6. I believe it was Bolivia...

Whatever country it was tho, the company was Bechtel. It was ILLEGAL to collect RAINWATER!

[Judi Lynn]

8. It was Bolivia. A search a moment ago, looking for Bolivia's problem

revealed something I'd never heard: plans were made to also charge Bolivian people for drawing water from their wells! You may have heard already that the privatized water company was charging them for trying to collect rain water in barrels, etc., for their own use! Jesus.

Here's an interview on Democracy Now with a Bolivian activist who was pivotal in the uprising to reclaim water use for the Bolivian people, Oscar Olivara:

AMY GOODMAN: But could you explain, though it's well-known in Bolivia, hardly known here at all, though it's a U.S. company, what happened in Cochabamba? Talk about what Bechtel tried to do and what the people responded.

OSCAR OLIVERA: {translated}It's not that Bechtel tried to do it. They did it. They increased the charges for water, the cost of water, by 300%, so that every family had to pay, for this water service, one-fifth of their income.

AMY GOODMAN: How did they get control of the water? I mean, here, you turn on the tap. You don't pay.

OSCAR OLIVERA:{translated}The government, under a law that was passed, conceded control of the water under a monopoly to Bechtel in a certain area. So that means that Bechtel tried to charge a fee and had the monopoly power over a very basic necessity for people. The law said even that people had to ask, had to obtain a permit to collect rainwater. That means that even rainwater was privatized. The most serious thing was that indigenous communities and farming communities, who for years had their own water rights, those water sources were converted into property that could be bought and sold by international corporations.

In confronting that situation, the people rose up, confronted Bechtel, and during five months of mobilization, managed to defeat Bechtel, breach the contract and change the law. But the most important thing -- and we need to remind Evo Morales of that today -- was that that victory of the people in Cochabamba was the reason why Evo Morales could be president today. If that uprising in 2000 had not ended in a popular victory, Evo Morales today would not be the president.

AMY GOODMAN: Why do you say you have to remind President Evo Morales?

OSCAR OLIVERA:{translated} Because Evo does not talk today about that struggle. And he was not the principal protagonist in that struggle, nor was it Oscar Olivera. It was the Bolivian people, which up until the 18th of December, when Evo Morales was elected, was the primary protagonist in that struggle. At this time, Evo Morales is in the government because the people put him there so that we can continue pushing together. He is in the government to obey what the people has decided. He needs to change the political and economic systems of the country. We're going to continue pushing forward that process, which means recovering our common goods, as well as our capacity to decide.

AMY GOODMAN: Who died in that struggle back in 2000?

OSCAR OLIVERA: {translated} In that struggle, a 17-year-old boy named Victor Hugo Daza was killed along with four indigenous Aymara in El Alto.

AMY GOODMAN: Every November in the United States is a mass protest against the School of the Americas. That's the old name for it. Were there any connections with the soldiers and the School?

OSCAR OLIVERA: {translated} Of course, there were connections. At that time, the president, Hugo Banzer Suarez, and the mayor of Cochabamba had gone to the School of the Americas. And also the soldier who actually killed the youth, who we mentioned, also had been a graduate of the School of the Americas.

AMY GOODMAN: Finally, today, you are in the United States meeting with trade union leaders. What are you doing with them?

OSCAR OLIVERA: {translated} What we want, as the program says, is democracy now for everyone. Today, there should be five people at this roundtable, but instead, there's only four. The best democracy in the world, which supposedly is the United States of America, the government of the United States did not permit that Juan Patricio Quispe, the brother of a man who was killed in 2003, could come here today. The American embassy refused to give him a visa so that he could come and give his testimony about the suffering of the people....
(snip/...)

http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=06/10/05/1430200

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Timeline: Cochabamba Water Revolt
September 1998
IMF Loan to Bolivia Requires Privatization
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approves a $138 million loan for Bolivia to help the country control inflation and bolster economic growth. In compliance with IMF-drafted "structural reforms" for the nation, Bolivia agrees to sell off "all remaining public enterprises," including national oil refineries and Cochabamba's local water agency, SEMAPA.

June 1999
World Bank Discourages Water Subsidies
In its Bolivia Public Expenditure Review, an economic report prepared for the country, the World Bank maintains that "no subsidies should be given to ameliorate the increase in water tariffs in Cochabamba." Countries receiving loan assistance from the World Bank and the IMF are often discouraged from heavily subsidizing public services, as such expenditures counteract IMF and World Bank formulas for reducing debt, controlling inflation and attracting foreign investment.
September 1999
Bolivia Leases Cochabamba Water System to Multinational Consortium
After closed-door negotiations, the Bolivian government signs a $2.5 billion contract to hand over Cochabamba's municipal water system to Aguas del Tunari, a multinational consortium of private investors, including a subsidiary of the Bechtel Corporation. Aguas del Tunari was the sole bidder for the privatization of Cochabamba's water system.
October 1999
Aguas del Tunari Announces Its Plans; Bolivia Legalizes Water Privatization
On October 11, Aguas del Tunari officially announces that it has been awarded 40-year concession rights to provide water and sanitation services to the residents of Cochabamba. The consortium also announces that it will generate electrical energy and irrigation water for the region's agricultural sector. The major shareholder of Aguas del Tunari, Bechtel subsidiary International Water Ltd., claims that water delivery coverage and sewage connection will increase by at least 93 percent by the fifth year of private water management in Cochabamba. That same month, the Bolivian parliament passes Law 2029 (the Drinking Water and Sanitation Law), which allows for the privatization of state drinking water and sewage disposal services. In effect, the law would make residents pay full cost for water services in Cochabamba.
January 2000
Rising Water Prices Spark Cochabamba Protests
Cochabamba protesters shut down the city for four days, going on strike and erecting roadblocks throughout the city. Residents protest the privatization of their municipally run water system and Aguas del Tunari's rate hikes, which have doubled and tripled their water bills. Aguas del Tunari had informed Bolivian officials that water rates would increase only by 35 percent, to cover the cost of expanding water delivery and to upgrade the city's water infrastructure.
February 4-5, 2000
Peaceful Protests Turn Violent
Fed up with government inaction, The Coalition for the Defense of Water and Life (La Coordinadora), led by union organizer and antiglobalization activist Oscar Olivera, makes a peaceful demonstration march to Cochabamba's city plaza.The march is marred by violence for 2 days -- riot police meet demonstrators with tear gas, injuring an estimated 175 and blinding two.
February 8, 2000
Word of the"War Over Water" Hits Western Press
"A War Over Water," an "on-the-scene" report on the clash between riot police and protesters in Cochabamba, is published by Pacific News Service correspondent Jim Shultz, who also serves as executive director of the Cochabamba-based The Democracy Center. Shultz will come to play a major role in educating the public and the Western media about events in Cochabamba by helping to expose the Bechtel Corporation's involvement and organizing a mass email-writing campaign directed to Bechtel's CEO, Riley Bechtel, to protest the company's actions.
March 22, 2000
La Coordinadora Holds Unofficial Referendum - 96 Percent Want Out
La Coordinadora holds an unofficial referendum in which an overwhelming majority -- 96 percent of 50,000 voters -- disapproves of water privatization and Aguas del Tunari's water contract in Cochabamba. Government officials refuse to consider terminating the contract.
April 3, 2000
Protests Spread Beyond Cochabamba Borders
Protests originating in Cochabamba's central plaza spread to La Paz and other cities and outlying rural communities. Thousands clash with riot police, erect roadblocks, and protest not only the water-rate hikes but the country's overall economic malaise and high unemployment.
April 6, 2000
La Coordinadora Leader Arrested
In what water protest leader and La Coordinadora spokesperson Oscar Olivera claims was a "trap," Olivera and his colleagues agree to meet with government officials in Cochabamba about the water-rate hikes. Police descend upon the meeting with Cochabamba's mayor, the governor and other civic leaders, briefly arresting Olivera and other coalition activists present at the talks.
April 8, 2000
State of Siege: 17-Year-Old Boy Shot Dead
President Hugo Banzer declares a "state of siege," a condition similar to martial law, which can be enacted for 90 days under the Bolivian constitution. It allows for the arrest and detention of individuals without warrants and the enforcement of curfews and travel restrictions. A 17-year-old boy, Victor Hugo Daza, is shot dead by a Bolivian Army captain who opened fire into a crowd of demonstrators. In March 2002, the captain -- allegedly trained by the School of the Americas, a U.S. military academy that has trained tens of thousands of Latin American soldiers, intelligence officers and law enforcement officials in combat tactics -- would be acquitted by a military tribunal.
April 9, 2000
Ammunition, Tear Gas, Injuries and Deaths
Riot police continue to assault protesters with live ammunition and tear gas. Police mutiny in La Paz and Santa Cruz to protest low wages. The April protests will leave six dead and dozens injured and forcibly detained by authorities.
April 10, 2000
Bolivian Government Changes Course - Gives Control to La Coordinadora
The latest wave of protest-related violence culminates in a historic victory for the residents of Cochabamba and their supporters. After four days in hiding, Oscar Olivera signs an agreement with the Bolivian government that guarantees the withdrawal of Aguas del Tunari, grants control of Cochabamba's water to La Coordinadora (the grassroots coalition led by Olivera), assures the release of detained protesters, and promises the repeal of water privatization legislation. Legislation that would have charged peasants for water drawn from local wells is also removed.
April 12, 2000
World Bank President States that Water Should Not be Publicly Subsidized
When asked about the events in Cochabamba during a press conference in Washington, D.C., World Bank President James Wolfensohn maintains that people in Bolivia and elsewhere should be charged for the use of public services (such as water), as public subsidies of such services lead to waste. According to Wolfensohn, "The biggest problem with water is the waste of water through lack of charging."
(snip/...)

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/timeline.html
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/



Oscar Olivera

Bolivia: Oscar Olivera
Interview with Oscar Olivera, leader of the Coordinadora in defense of water and life of Cochabamba.
Q: Why did you get involved in the struggle to defend water and to fight privatization in Cochabamba?

In the contract for the water concession with Aguas del Tunari and the Drinking Water Law they established measures that directly affected people in their daily lives. One of those was the dolarisation of water rates for people connected to the central network, another was the expropriation of alternative water systems that had been built by hundreds of cooperatives and thirdly you had the creation of a market in water that ended traditional uses and customs in water management and removed the rights of communities to their own water sources. What's more these rules established a fixed rate of return for the multinational of 16% and even forced the population to ask permission from the Superintendent of Sanitation to collect rain water.

A resident connected to the central network saw his rates triple in one day. People who weren't connected could not get a service because the multinational had a monopoly. The communal water systems constructed as a result of everyone's work were handed over to the company without any compensation. They did exactly the same by handing over the lakes and rivers belonging to small farming communities. The privatization and policies of the World Bank affected everyone without exception because no-one can live without water.
(snip/...)

http://www.wdm.org.uk/campaigns/water/private/boliviainterview01.htm

[dipsydoodle]

9. That's almost as bad

as taxing salt. x(

[Orsino]

4. Frickin' commies.

Guaranteein' basic human needs and shit.

[Sabriel]

5. We should have one, too, in the US

Along with our right to privacy and fair trial....

[donsu]

7. sounds good to me

nt