Sometimes teachers feel they do not have time to keep students up to date on important issues. Our history is often too limited to what is happening or has been happening in our home country. With this lesson or primer to the history of the Cochabamba “Water Wars” in Bolivia is intended to help teachers and students explore rights and our ability to take action.
The primer looks at the global issue of water and how different local and international organizations had functioned (1998-2005) to evolve democratic control of their own water resources at a time when dominant free market schools of political economy had both controlled their government leadership and had forced the privatization of a great region’s water supply.
VOCABULAR Y: World Bank, IMF, Bechtel Corportion, realist, neo-liberal, dependency, and cognitive schools of political economy
CONTENT–Listening, reading, writing, and discussion opportunities.
THE WATER WAR—BOLIVIA : A PRIMER
By Kevin Stoda, for students and teachers
Synopsis of the Issue: “The fresh clean water pouring freely from your spigot, shower head and garden hose isn’t just a gift of Mother Nature. It’s fast becoming a profit center. Savvy businessmen have been buying up water sources across America, hoping that one day our most precious resource will become their route to riches. Already, a few multinational companies have cornered the water market in countries like France and England, reaping billions in profit. But what are the consequences of treating life-sustaining water as just another commodity to be bought and sold to the highest bidder?”—Bill Moyers.
Food for thought: To what degree can private organizations help in aiding development and protecting the environment?
- I. An Example of one Successful Struggle
“Water Wars. Ten years ago this month, the Bolivian city of Cochabamba was at the center of an epic fight over one of the city’s most vital natural resources: its own water. The Water Wars occurred just months after the Battle of Seattle. The uprising against Bechtel on the streets of Cochabamba was seen as the embodiment of the international struggle against corporate globalization.”-Amy Goodman
http://www.pbs.org/now/science/bolivia.html
:
- II. A Timeline of the Water War
1999: “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.”
http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/bolivia/timeline.html
Here is the story as seen on Frontline:
http://www.pbs.org/now/science/bolivia.html
- III. Memories of the Water War
“Ten years ago this month, the Bolivian city of Cochabamba was at the center of an epic fight over one of the city’s most vital natural resources: its own water. The Water Wars occurred just months after the Battle of Seattle. The uprising against Bechtel on the streets of Cochabamba was seen as the embodiment of the international struggle against corporate globalization. Over the past week, water activists from around the world gathered in Cochabamba to mark the tenth anniversary of the Water Wars.”
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/19/the_cochabamba_water_wars_marcella_olivera
- IV. NOW—What are some lessons?
“Over the past week, water activists from around the world have gathered here in Cochabamba to mark the tenth anniversary of the Water Wars. Meanwhile, thousands of climate justice activists have begun arriving here in Bolivia for the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth. Bolivian President Evo Morales called for the gathering to give the poor and the Global South an opportunity to respond to the failed climate talks in Copenhagen. The global summit kicks off today here in the Bolivian town of Tiquipaya, just outside Cochabamba. We’ll be broadcasting here at the site of the summit throughout the week, right through Earth Day.”
Today: http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/19/jim_shultz_on_dignity_and_defiance
Memories of Mobilization in Cochabamba are seen in South American relations today and with its policies in Europe and North America
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/19/bolivian_un_ambassador_pablo_solon_on
“Today marks the start of the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth here in Tiquipaya. Bolivian President Evo Morales called for the gathering to give the poor and the Global South an opportunity to respond to the failed climate talks in Copenhagen. We are joined now by Pablo Solon, Bolivia’s ambassador to the United Nations. Prior to his role in the government, Solon was a social activist who worked for several years with different social organizations, indigenous movements, workers’ unions, student associations, human rights and cultural organizations in Bolivia.”
- V. Some Study Questions for Discussion
(1) Who should control and make decisions about water supplies? Name the stakeholders. Explain why each has or should have the right.
(2) Who is Bechtel Corporation and what was its role in the Water War? How has Bechtel been involved in other wars?
(3) Summarize the creation and the building of the movement which took place in and around Cochabamba Bolivia in the early part of this past decade.
(4) How are the movements in Bolivia related to other global movements these days? E.g. climate change, indigenous rights, sustainable development, and the right to resources.
(5) How has the United States responded to the movements in Bolivia and Latin America in the past few years?
(6) What is the purpose of the big meetings in Bolivia this month? Which countries are involved? What other institution and organizations are involved?
(7) What is your government and society doing to combat environmental issues, such as climate change and protecting natural resources and wildlife?
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0830515/synopsis
Synapsis of a movie, see james bond QUANTUM OF SOLACE.
“American and British governments have agreed to work with Greene, because they think he has control of vast supplies of oil in Bolivia. Bond meets American CIA agent Felix Leiter (a colleague from the high-stakes poker game in Casino Royale ) at a local bar, who, like Bond, thinks his government is on the wrong track. Leiter discloses that Greene and Medrano will meet at an eco-hotel in the Bolivian desert.
At the meeting in the eco-hotel, Greene threatens Gen. Medrano into signing a contract granting Greene’s company an overpriced proprietary utilities contract in Bolivia. After the meeting, Bond attacks and kills the Colonel of Police for betraying Mathis, and sets off a chain of explosions in the hotel when a hydrogen fuel tank is hit by an out of control vehicle. Camille busts up Medrano’s attempted rape of his servant girl, and after a fight (during which Medrano tells Camille that she has the same frightened look her mother had before he killed her), Camille kills Medrano. Bond rescues Camille from the burning building, and captures Greene. After interrogating him, he leaves Greene stranded in the middle of the desert with only a can of motor oil. Bond tells him that he bets Greene will make it 20 miles across the desert before he considers drinking the oil, contrasting the resources of oil and water. Bond drives Camille to a train station, where she muses on what life holds for her now that her revenge is complete. They kiss briefly but passionately before she departs.”
Evo Morales Opens Climate Change Conference in Tiquipaya
As the peoples’ climate change talks here move into their third day, thousands of participants from across Latin America and around the world are streaming into this small Bolivian town to discuss how to slow the impact of global warming. Anjali Kamat and Rick Rowley file this report on Tuesday’s opening ceremony. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/21/evo_morales_opens_climate_change_conference
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/21/the_most_important_event_in_the
“The Most Important Event in the Struggle Against Climate Change”–Nigerian Environmentalist Nnimmo Bassey on Bolivia Climate Conference
Bassey_web
Among those who spoke at the inauguration ceremony for the World Peoples’ Climate Conference was Nnimmo Bassey, the prominent Nigerian environmentalist and chair of Friends of the Earth International. By contrast, at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen in December, his group, along with several other mainstream environmental organizations, was barred from the talks. “Here you get a real sense that government wants to speak to people,” Bassey says.
Why Is the US Cutting Off Climate Aid to the Poorest Country in South America?–Bolivian Climate Negotiator Angélica Navarro
The Obama administration has confirmed it’s denying climate aid to at least two countries that refused to sign onto last year’s Copenhagen environmental accord. The State Department has canceled funding of $3 million to Bolivia and $2.5 million to Ecuador. The funding was canceled at a time when Bolivia is losing its glaciers and suffering mass drought due to climate change. Bolivia’s lead climate negotiator Angélica Navarro calls on the developed world to pay a climate debt to poor nations suffering the impact of climate change. [includes rush transcript]
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/21/why_is_the_united_states_cutting
“The World Is Changing in a More Progressive Way, and It’s Taking Place Here”–Boaventura de Sousa Santos on Bolivia Climate Summit
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/21/the_world_is_changing_in_a
Among the thousands of participants at the World Peoples’ Climate Conference in Cochabamba is Boaventura de Sousa Santos, an internationally respected scholar and one of the leading organizers of the World Social Forum. He is a professor of sociology at the University of Coimbra in Portugal and a distinguished legal scholar at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. [includes rush transcript]
Bolivian Indigenous Activists Call for End to Polluting Extractive Industries Inside Bolivia
As the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change gets underway in Tiquipaya, an estimated 700 indigenous activists are continuing their occupation of a mining firm in the southeastern Bolivian province of Potosi. The Qulla people have blocked access to a key railway line from the San Cristóbal silver-zinc-lead mine owned by Japan’s Sumitomo Corporation. They say Sumitomo is contaminating their land and water with mine waste. We speak to two activists from CONAMAQ, the National Council of Ayllus and Markas of Qullasuyu. Herminia Colque and Gabino Apata Mamani want their concerns to be heard at the summit.
Bolivian Indigenous Activist: We Must Respect Mother Earth, Our Pachamama
Indigenouswomaweb
On Monday, the top US climate negotiator, Todd Stern, admitted that a binding agreement on curbing greenhouse gas emissions may not even be possible at the next UN climate summit scheduled for December in Cancun. Stern’s comments came after the US took part in the Major Economies Forum on Energy and Climate in Washington. While the United States and other nations met behind closed doors on Monday, a very different climate summit began here in Bolivia: the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth. We begin today’s show with Peregrina Kusse Viza, a member of the Bolivian indigenous group CONAMAQ.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/20/one
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/20/two
As Protests Mount Against San Cristóbal Silver Mine, Bolivia Looks to Extract Massive Lithium Reserves, But at What Cost?
Lithiumweb
We look at why Bolivian miners have staged a major protest at the San Cristóbal mine, one of the world’s largest silver mines. We speak to journalist Jean Friedman-Rudovsky about the protest and about lithium, one of the most important new energy sources. Bolivia’s lithium reserves are estimated to be the largest in the world.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/20/three
Actress Q’orianka Kilcher on Climate Change Activism: Public Figures and Celebrities “Have a Responsibility to Help Give a Voice to the Voiceless”
Qoriankaweb
Thousands of indigenous groups, grassroots activists and environmentalists began streaming into the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change and Rights of Mother Earth in Tiquipaya, Bolivia on Monday. Among them was the award-winning young Hollywood actress Q’orianka Kilcher. “I really believe and I love the saying that there comes a time when silence is betrayal,” Kilcher says. “As public figures and as celebrities, we have a responsibility to be able to help give voice to the voiceless.”
Pat Mooney on the Dangers of Geoengineering and Manipulating the Planet to Combat Climate Change
Pat_mooney_web
Supporters of geoengineering have proposed radical ways to alter the planet to decrease the level of greenhouse gas emissions. Proposals include creating artificial volcanoes to pollute the atmosphere with sulfur particles, fertilizing the oceans and placing sun-deflecting aluminum foil in the sky. But opposition is growing to geoengineering. Here at the World Peoples’ Summit on Climate Change in Bolivia, the ETC Group is launching an international campaign against geoengineering experiments. We speak with the group’s founder, Pat Mooney, a Right Livelihood Award winner.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/4/20/four
With the recent Social Forum in Detroit, this wonderful segment with statements by indigenous peoples was presented.
http://www.democracynow.org/2010/6/25/art_manuel
Indigenous Leader Art Manuel: “Indigenous People Are the First Ones Impacted” by Western-Driven Resource Extraction
DEMOCRACY NOW
Indigenous leader Art Manuel, former Chief of the Neskonlith Band in British Columbia and spokesperson for the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade, joins us to talk about the struggle for indigenous rights and sovereignty in the context of the G20 summit.
AMY GOODMAN: I’m joined here in Toronto by Arthur Manuel. He is the former chief of the Neskonlith Band in British Columbia and spokesperson for the Indigenous Network on Economies and Trade.
Why are indigenous people coming out into the streets here in Toronto, Art?
ARTHUR MANUEL: Because basically indigenous people are the first ones that are impacted by the major sort of resource extraction-type industries that these big conferences actually, you know, engender in their strategies, you know? And so, we have to let—you know, we are part of the whole process, you know, in the sense that we’re the people that are hurt at the community level, in terms of hunting and fishing and food gathering that we depend on. It doesn’t matter if it’s just North America, but it could be anywhere, in Central, South America, in Asia, you know, all around the world. There’s like 370 million indigenous people globally, you know?
The United Nations on the—passed a declaration called the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People. A hundred and forty-one nations voted in favor of it; four voted against it: you know, Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand. And those are very key players in the G8/G20 equation. And those are the people that indigenous people come to the streets to let the government know that you need to deal with indigenous issues, too, in your global plans, because it’s indigenous people that actually are the ones that fight against a lot of these big dams, you know, the tar sands. All these big issues that are happening out there is indigenous people. You know, in Canada, we’ve been to court constantly, you know, the Supreme Court, fighting against these things, big developments, more so than even some of the environmental groups, because our people really depend on the ecological biodiversity that is damaged by these kind of things. And we don’t want the G8 and the G20 to circumvent the rights that we’ve gotten recognized, like in the UN, you know, and through the colonial—I mean, the Convention on Biological Diversity.
AMY GOODMAN: Art Manuel, talk about your case against the WTO. When did it happen, and what happened?
ARTHUR MANUEL: Well, in our case, there was a dispute between Canada and the United States on Canada softwood lumber dispute, they called it. Canada exports about $10 billion worth of two-by-fours to the United States. And the small mill owners in the United States felt that Canada wasn’t charging fair market stumpage on timber being exported, so they initiated an action which resulted in the US Department of Commerce imposing a 27 percent countervailing duty on Canada two-by-fours. And Canada brought it to the World Trade Organization.
And so, we interceded with an amicus curiae submission. And our submission basically said, under WTO subsidy law, that the Canadian policy of not recognizing judicially recognized, constitutionally protected aboriginal treaty rights is a cash subsidy to the Canadian forest industry, and the World Trade Organization accepted it, you know? And so, basically it’s saying that indigenous people are subsidizing the Canadian economy through our rights not being recognized.
And we also had the same thing happen with regard to the North American Free Trade Agreement. Canada went there. We put in a submission. And Canada actually hired lawyers in Washington, DC to argue against us, and we won. The submissions were accepted, which basically means Canada, as a country, you know, has aboriginal treaty rights that have been recognized by the courts, protected by the Constitution, but they will not recognize it politically, and which makes indigenous people poorer, because our rights as indigenous people are not recognized in decision making with regard to access and benefit sharing with regard to our natural resources in this country, which means that that’s what’s being talked about here at G8, G20, is actually the land and the resources of indigenous people. But we’re totally left totally out of the picture at this level.
AMY GOODMAN: Given this is a global summit, G8/G20, are you having global meetings with other indigenous leaders and activists from around the world? And have they come here?
ARTHUR MANUEL: We have had—we do have meetings constantly, you know, like in terms of indigenous peoples’ caucuses and forums at the global level. We do have—annually, the United Nations has the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York City, and the indigenous people do get together in the form of a global indigenous peoples’ caucus, and we do talk about these kinds of issues. The next big session that we’ll probably—well, that we will be having is in Nagoya in October, when the Convention on Biological Diversity will be happening. We will be having our global caucus there again. You know, so we do meet.
http://eslkevin.wordpress.com/2011/02/23/blue-butterflies-miracles-goal-setting-strategies-for-kids-and-other-learning-opportunities
This is another work I had created for younger students on the power of the human spirit–this time versus science and bad advice by some experts.