What is the World Bank's role?
In 1996 The World Bank offered the mayor of Cochabamba a $14 million loan to expand the community's access to water through a privatized water system. Due to heavy pressure from the Bank, the Bolivian government agreed to the conditions and gave Bechtel control over Cochabamba's water.
In 1996 The World Bank offered the mayor of Cochabamba a $14 million loan to expand the community's access to water through a privatized water system. Due to heavy pressure from the Bank, the Bolivian government agreed to the conditions and gave Bechtel control over Cochabamba's water.
Though only a few statements from the Bolivian government were reported in the press, those statements displayed some use of “jargon,” which Fairhurst and Sahrr (1996) describe as the use of popular references and ideas to enhance the meaning of a narrative. Bolivian government officials did this by appealing to the popular political ideal of democracy, and by attributing the protests to the drug trade. For example, an Associated Press report, which was featured in the St. Louis Post-Dispatch (2000), said that President Hugo Banzer called the protesters a threat to democracy. The government also said that the protesters were coca farmers and leftist agitators (The Economist, 2000). Finnegan (2002) also reported that a Bolivian minister said that the protests were sponsored by narcotraficantes. When his government declared martial law, President Hugo Banzer also said it was for the maintenance of law and order. “We see it as our obligation, in the common best interest, to decree a state of emergency to protect law and order,” Banzer said, quoted in an article in the Earth Island Journal (Schultz, 2000b). It is interesting to note that none of these narratives directly addressed the concerns the protesters. Instead, the Bolivian government appeared to be taking stabs at the legitimacy protests themselves.
In a 1999 report on Bolivia’s public expenditure, the World Bank recommended that “no subsidies should be given to ameliorate the increase in water tariffs in Cochabamba” (World Bank, 1999). The World Bank Director, James Wolfensohn reiterated this position when he told a Finnish reporter that countries like Bolivia need a “proper system of charging” (Schultz, 2000b). He also said that the privatization efforts, which the Bank supported, were not targeted at the por. Both Wolfensohn’s words and the recommendation from the 1999 report are reflective of the World Bank’s policy thread of privatization of public utilities for developing countries. Proponents of privatization believe that it improves the quality of services and discourages waste because commodities cost more (Finnegan, 2002). Like Bechtel, the World Bank’s narrative relies largely on spin as it ignores the fine details of the privatization plan in Cochabamba. An evaluation report from the bank’s monitoring and evaluation body appears to acknowledge this failure when it concludes that “privatization is not a panacea” (World Bank Organization Evaluation Department, 2002).
In a 1999 report on Bolivia’s public expenditure, the World Bank recommended that “no subsidies should be given to ameliorate the increase in water tariffs in Cochabamba” (World Bank, 1999). The World Bank Director, James Wolfensohn reiterated this position when he told a Finnish reporter that countries like Bolivia need a “proper system of charging” (Schultz, 2000b). He also said that the privatization efforts, which the Bank supported, were not targeted at the por. Both Wolfensohn’s words and the recommendation from the 1999 report are reflective of the World Bank’s policy thread of privatization of public utilities for developing countries. Proponents of privatization believe that it improves the quality of services and discourages waste because commodities cost more (Finnegan, 2002). Like Bechtel, the World Bank’s narrative relies largely on spin as it ignores the fine details of the privatization plan in Cochabamba. An evaluation report from the bank’s monitoring and evaluation body appears to acknowledge this failure when it concludes that “privatization is not a panacea” (World Bank Organization Evaluation Department, 2002).