There are a number of implications of the Cochabamba water war, as well as several recommendations from our team for future development organizations and communication specialists. In 2001 Bechtel and Aguas del Tunari sought restitution by suing the Bolivian government collectively for $50 million in financial losses as a result of the newly terminated 40-year contract (PBS, 2002). Spearheaded by Olivera in 2002, a group of 125 protesters marched to the Bechtel headquarters in San Francisco (Plumer, 2006).
This brought about increased mainstream media attention from publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle and the New Yorker. The media coverage not only brought international awareness to the Cochabamba protests, but it also highlighted privatization as a widespread issue across the world including in South Africa and England (Interlandi, 2010).
In the years following the Bechtel lawsuit, the protests have been analyzed in academic literature and pop culture. The book Blue Gold: the Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water was adapted into an award-winning 2008 documentary by filmmaker Sam Bozzo. A more publicized reference to the Cochabamba situation was the 2006 James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace,” which has a secondary plot line involving control over Bolivia’s water supply. Even with these successes, the struggle over water in Bolivia continues.
Although La Coordinadora and the protesters were able to expel Aguas del Tunari and lower water prices to the pre-Bechtel rates, the groups did not devise an adequate alternative to water privatization. In the years after La Coordinadora took control over SEMAPA, about half of the rural population of Bolivian still did not have regular access to fresh water and SEMAPA continued to be criticized for mismanagement of the water system (Finnegan, 2002). The Cochabamba protest is a good case to examine the different ways that development and development communication need to improve on different levels.
On the local level we believe representatives of future social movements should strive to meticulously develop concrete solutions that improve livelihoods of the native people rather than keeping the situation the same. While the Bolivian public guided by La Coordinadora succeeded in relieving themselves of the higher water prices under Bechtel, they did not effectively devise a solution that would provide regular water access at a reasonable prices.
On the governmental and financial levels, organizations such as the World Bank need have a problem of dictating “solutions” to countries that are not necessarily applicable. These organizations need to better work within the economic and cultural systems of individual countries rather than making general proposals.
This brought about increased mainstream media attention from publications such as the San Francisco Chronicle and the New Yorker. The media coverage not only brought international awareness to the Cochabamba protests, but it also highlighted privatization as a widespread issue across the world including in South Africa and England (Interlandi, 2010).
In the years following the Bechtel lawsuit, the protests have been analyzed in academic literature and pop culture. The book Blue Gold: the Fight to Stop the Corporate Theft of the World’s Water was adapted into an award-winning 2008 documentary by filmmaker Sam Bozzo. A more publicized reference to the Cochabamba situation was the 2006 James Bond movie “Quantum of Solace,” which has a secondary plot line involving control over Bolivia’s water supply. Even with these successes, the struggle over water in Bolivia continues.
Although La Coordinadora and the protesters were able to expel Aguas del Tunari and lower water prices to the pre-Bechtel rates, the groups did not devise an adequate alternative to water privatization. In the years after La Coordinadora took control over SEMAPA, about half of the rural population of Bolivian still did not have regular access to fresh water and SEMAPA continued to be criticized for mismanagement of the water system (Finnegan, 2002). The Cochabamba protest is a good case to examine the different ways that development and development communication need to improve on different levels.
On the local level we believe representatives of future social movements should strive to meticulously develop concrete solutions that improve livelihoods of the native people rather than keeping the situation the same. While the Bolivian public guided by La Coordinadora succeeded in relieving themselves of the higher water prices under Bechtel, they did not effectively devise a solution that would provide regular water access at a reasonable prices.
On the governmental and financial levels, organizations such as the World Bank need have a problem of dictating “solutions” to countries that are not necessarily applicable. These organizations need to better work within the economic and cultural systems of individual countries rather than making general proposals.