[Marxism] Cochabamba People, 1 / Bechtel, 0

["Nestor Gorojovsky" <nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[First part in Spanish, MOST in English.

As you will see from the article, the famous "water war", which has 
ended with a victory that we celebrate together with J. Schultz, who 
reports in detail, was simply a particular form of what Lenin termed 
an "economic struggle".

It would be simple (simpleton) economism to turn something that can 
be won, as it was, at the courts, into a "political struggle". 

But this is what many do, only because a tiny fraction of a very poor 
people can defeat _the own bourgeoisie of those many_ in a way they 
haven't managed to do as yet.

And of course we REALLY understand the difficulties involved in such 
a task, we are not haughty nor anything like that.
 
        Del editor.- En junio del año pasado habiamos destacado que ..."Hay 
personas avidas en difundir al mundo el acontecer de Bolivia, y de 
manera ojetiva, sin segundas intenciones ni escenografias falsas, 
entre ellas situamos a Jim Shultz un gringo de pasiones y querencias 
por Bolivia". Hoy Jim nos anticipa que viaja a los Estados Unidos, a 
difundir el fin de la GUERRA DEL AGUA, por lo menos esa que nos 
embaucó la Bechtel y algunos socios bolivianos. Tambien dijimos, 
.."existen gringos buenos, existen gringos que no se enriquecen a 
costa de la pobreza de la gente inocente de nuestras areas rurales. 
Bolivia necesita gente como Jim Schultz, aprendamos a conocer y 
reconocer a los buenos gringos !! " Desafortunadamente Jim me manda 
una nota sobre su mision en inglés. Este anuncio se ha enviado a todo 
el web para que aquellos interesados en saber mas de nuestra 
actualidad lo esperen a Jim segun su plan de viaje previsto. El 25 de 
enero en Wahington DC, el 1ro de febrero en Nueva York, y el 4 de 
febrero en St Paul, Minnesota. Espero valoren cómo un forastero 
afincado en estas tierras puede querernos tanto para que por su 
cuenta y riesgo se haya enfrentado a un pulpo como la Bechtel. Les 
saluda, W. Flores Medina

a los que quieran conocer la cronica de junio, favor entrar a: 
http://web.supernet.com.bo/execlub/newsletter/jun20.htm

BECHTEL VS. BOLIVIA: THE PEOPLE WIN!!

Dear Readers: The people have won!! 

This morning here in Bolivia, the Bechtel Corporation will sign an 
agreement dropping its $50 million legal case against the people of 
Cochabamba ? for kicking Bechtel out in the 2000 water revolt. 
Instead of the fortune it demanded, Bechtel will fly home with a 
token settlement of two shiny Bolivian coins worth a total of thirty 
cents. One of the biggest, most powerful corporations on Earth has 
been defeated by an army of concerned citizens all over the world, 
including many of you. 

Bechtel's surrender is a historic first. Below is an article with 
details. To the thousands of people who helped wage this fight ? with 
everything from e-mails to direct actions ? congratulations! You did 
it! 

On another note, I am headed to the US next week to do a series of 
public talks and panels about Bolivia and events here. If you live 
nearby, please come. All these are open to the public and everyone is 
invited. 

Jim Shultz 

The Democracy Center- WASHINGTON: January 25th ? 3:15 pm- The Mott 
House, 122 Maryland Avenue, N.E. 

NEW YORK: February 1st ? 5:30 pm - Marymount College, 211 East 71 st 
St. (between 2 nd and 3 rd Avenues) - The Regina Peruggi Room 

ST. PAUL MINN: February 4th ? 9am- Unity Unitarian Church, 732 Holly 
Avenue 

BECHTEL VS. BOLIVIA: THE PEOPLE WIN!

The Cochabamba water revolt ? which began exactly six years ago this 
month ? will end this morning when Bechtel, one of the world's most 
powerful corporations, formally abandons its legal effort to take $50 
million from the Bolivian people. Bechtel made that demand before a 
secretive trade court operated by the World Bank, the same 
institution that coerced Bolivia to privatize the water to begin 
with. Faced with protests, barrages of e-mails, visits to their 
homes, and years of damaging press, Bechtel executives finally 
decided to surrender, walking away with a token payment equal to 
thirty cents. That retreat sets a huge global precedent.

The Cochabamba Water Revolt 

In January 2000 the people of Cochabamba, Bolivia woke up one morning 
to discover that their public water system had been taken over by a 
mysterious new private company, Aguas del Tunari. The World Bank had 
coerced Bolivia to privatize its water, as a condition of further 
aid. The new company, controlled by Bechtel, the California 
engineering giant, announced its arrival with a huge overnight 
increase in local water bills. Water rates leapt by an average of 
more than fifty percent, and in some cases much higher. Bechtel and 
its Spanish co-investor, Abengoa, priced water beyond what many 
families here could afford. 

The people demanded that the rate hikes be permanently reversed. The 
Bolivian government refused. Then the people demanded that the 
company's contract be canceled. The government sent out police and 
soldiers to take control of the city and declared a state martial 
law. 

In the face of beatings, of leaders being taken from their houses in 
the middle of the night, of a seventeen-year-old boy being shot and 
killed by the army ? in the face of it all, the people did not back 
down. In April of 2000 Bechtel's company was forced to leave and the 
people won back control of their water. 

Bechtel Fights Back 

Eighteen months later Bechtel and Abengoa sought revenge, filing a 
$50 million legal action against Bolivia in the World Bank's trade 
court ? the International Centre for Settlement of Investment 
Disputes (ICSID). It was a legal forum tailor-made for Bechtel. The 
people of Cochabamba would be tried in Washington, in English, and in 
a process so secret that no member of the public or press would be 
allowed to know when the tribunal met, who testified before it, or 
what they said. 

Bechtel claimed it was suing for both its losses and the profits it 
wasn't allowed to make. Records would later show that Bechtel and its 
associates had spent less than $1 million in Bolivia. 

The People vs. Bechtel 

What Bechtel did not count on was the firestorm of public protest 
that it would face. Cochabamba water revolt leaders, The Democracy 
Center, and a host of allies all over the world launched a global 
campaign to force Bechtel to drop the case. 

Thousands sent e-mails to corporate executives. Protesters in San 
Francisco blocked the entrance to Bechtel's headquarters, occupied 
its lobby, and draped a banner across its front. Dutch activists 
mounted a ladder and posted a sign renaming Bechtel's Amsterdam 
office after Victor Hugo Daza, the 17-year-old killed in Cochabamba. 
The San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a resolution calling 
on Bechtel to drop its case. 

More than 300 organizations from 43 countries joined in a citizens 
petition to the World Bank demanding that the case be opened to 
public scrutiny and participation. Activists in Washington DC 
protested at the home of the head of Bechtel's water company. 
Hundreds of articles and dozens of documentaries were published and 
produced worldwide, making Bechtel and its Bolivian water takeover a 
poster child of corporate greed and abuse. 

Bechtel ? a corporation so powerful that it won a billion-dollar, no-
bid Bush administration contract to rebuild Iraq ? found it all more 
than even it could take. Last June, Bechtel and its associates raised 
the white flag and began negotiating a deal to drop their case ? for 
a token payment of two bolivianos (thirty cents). Sources close to 
the negotiations say that Bechtel's CEO, Riley Bechtel, personally 
intervened to bring the case to and end, weary of the ongoing damage 
to the corporation's reputation. Bechtel officials flew to Bolivia 
this week to sign the surrender and collect their two coins. 

Bechtel's Surrender ? What it Means 

Bechtel's surrender settlement is historic. The World Bank's system 
of closed-door trade courts has received more than 200 cases like 
Bechtel's. The WTO and NAFTA trade courts have their own pile of 
corporate cases. In no other, however, has a major corporation backed 
down as a result of public pressure. 

The public victory over Bechtel is a direct hit against the ever-
tightening spider web of global trade rules. International financial 
institutions, such as the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, 
coerce poor countries into privatization arrangements as a condition 
of aid. Corrupt and incompetent governments sit down behind closed 
doors with multinational corporations and cut bad deals. A year 
later, or a decade later, the people finally realize what has 
happened. They demand a reversal and the companies warn, ?Mess with 
the deal and we will take you to court ? and we will win.? 

In Cochabamba, people ?messed with the deal? big time. They took back 
their water. The global campaign against Bechtel sends an important 
message to other corporations who are thinking of following in their 
legal footsteps, in Bolivia and beyond: 

?No, we will not let you wage this fight behind closed doors where 
only a handful of lawyers has a voice. We will wage this fight on 
your doorstep. We will make you defend your actions in the court of 
world public opinion, before your neighbors, your friends, and the 
media.? 

One thing that corporations know how to do well is math. When Bechtel 
and its associates did the math on Cochabamba they concluded that the 
cost to the company's public reputation was greater than whatever 
payment they hoped to take from the pockets of Bolivia's poor. 

One again, it is clear that the economic rules of the game can be 
changed. Six years ago the people of Cochabamba won their revolt over 
water with courage and commitment. Today we have all won the water 
revolt's second and final round, with a persistence that was truly 
global and that could not be stopped. Another world is indeed 
possible.

---------------- 

A note: For more information on the Cochabamba Water Revolt visit The 
Democracy Center's Web site section dedicated to it: 
http://democracyctr.org /bechtel/ .
comentarios? mas info? massolidarios@xxxxxxxxx

MASSOLIDARIOS es una producción de execlub (Bolivia) una comunidad en 
el web. Depósito legal. El contenido es responsabilidad del editor y 
de los autores; y no comprometen a las entidades auspiciadoras o los 
grupos patrocinantes. La distribución en Bolivia se ejecuta en 
círculo cerrado según base de datos adscrita con un amplio despacho a 
otros destinos en el world wide web...Editor: W. Flores-Medina. 
Contacte a nuestra oficina: massolidarios@xxxxxxxxx Contacte al 
editor: execlub@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Adscritos al Programa LIDER 

Este correo lo ha enviado
Néstor Miguel Gorojovsky
nestorgoro@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
[No necesariamente es su autor]
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"La patria tiene que ser la dignidad arriba y el regocijo abajo".
Aparicio Saravia
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