El
Salvador and the bureaucracy of earthquake relief
A
personal account from Marta Viscarra
People
already know the details about the magnitude and intensity of the damage done by
the earthquake. Specifically,
the communities with whom we share brotherhood in Usulatan almost all
experienced the greatest misfortune especially Tierra Blanca and San Marcos
Lempa.
In
Bajo Lempa there were various communities affected, such as La Babilonia, where
the dikes built with such sacrifice by the people for protection from the
flooding of the Lempa River, were inundated and damaged when the earthquake
caused the river to overflow its banks.
Every
small and mid-size old house fell apart, the wells collapsed because they lost
the water veins in nearly 22 communities. The CEBES Pastoral Centre in
Nueva Esperanza (the meeting centre for the Zone) was left badly damaged; its
central meeting plaza was destroyed and the rooms with their collapsed walls
became uninhabitable, including those in the church where, that day, Nicaraguan
artists had begun to paint a mural on the front door.
In
San Salvador, there were many people with basic needs but, because of the
bureaucracy, aid did not arrive. The only available aid (which was very little)
was what the municipalities and parishes could send.
There
were people living far from the central locations and were isolated without any
kind of help. In the Feria Internacional de Toda, all the aid was
warehoused and to be released had to pass through a bureaucratic
"funnel." To acquire any aid, sensitive people had to humble
themselves and beg for it.
I
had the opportunity to accompany various families to solicit aid. They were the
isolated ones whom nobody helped. To begin with, the police guarding the
entrances did not let anyone enter except on a whim or those they saw were well
dressed. When I entered, I received the first shock with the military police.
They did not let anyone enter without a struggle with the police. People were
pushed from one side to the other without anyone succeeding.
At
the end of the line where they were registering for aid and asked all kinds of
questions, when people wanted to know what time and where they would receive
aid, they were told "in four or five days." They asked why so long
when they needed it today and had children sleeping outdoors in the harsh
weather. The response was that nothing could be done, they were just following
orders. When I asked what would happen to the applications, I was told that
someone would arrive to take supplies to COEN (Comite de Emergencia
Nacional). There, a supervisor would review the request and approve and sign
it. Then another person would pass it on to the SNF (Secretaria
Nacional de la Familia) which was presided over by the President’s wife.
From there it had to pass to agents to be signed. So far, the total amount of
aid handed out was nothing.
This
great bureaucratic journey was for the purpose of showing that it was thanks to
the president’s wife that they were receiving this aid. She visited one
community per day with aid so that people could see pictures and television
coverage of her delivering the aid that others had given!
"This
is really shameful," said Sr. Ferrer, the director of COEN.
"While supplies are kept in storage, people are getting sick from sleeping
in the street and are being bitten by all kinds of animals."
On
the road, we joined other people who had the same experience of not receiving
aid. We finished our tour where the media were present and denounced the trouble
publicly on Channel 12 where others had also denounced the violation of their
right to receive aid.
I
promised that these things would be made known internationally to sensitive
people who would give an account of how the government is importing hunger and
suffering to the people. We demand that the government not withhold aid from the
people who need it. The mayors must alleviate the suffering of the population
but the central government controls all the aid.
There
are many Non-Government Organizations that are acting to aid El Salvador and I
believe we can trust them. The Salvadoran Communities are working with Oxfam,
Alternatives, Developpement et Paix.
Well,
I hope to have another chance to continue telling about other facets of this
voyage that, without my wanting it, has turned into an Odyssey.
With
affection,
Marta
Viscarra
Avoidable
crises in El Salvador
By
Brian Rude
El
Salvador does not need a dramatic earthquake to expose the fragility of its
infrastructure, or the vulnerability of its population. Over
the past five months, the ever-suffering Salvadoran people has limped from one
crisis to the next, each of them perhaps inevitable, considering governmental
and business mentalities and inadequacies, but each also certainly avoidable, if
appropriate and normal measures had only been taken to prevent them. "It is
better to prevent, rather than lament," Salvadorans often say--a proverb
expressing their folk wisdom. But the reverse is more commonly the reality they
are forced to live.
Last
September, many Salvadoran parents were in sorrow, and many more were fearful,
due to the dengue epidemic that claimed the lives of 36 children. Massive public
education and fumigation campaigns followed, to eradicate the mosquitoes
responsible for the infections, and their many breeding grounds. But nothing
could be done to revive the 36 children or to restore them to their grieving
families. As usual, the modus operandi was one of reaction, rather than
prevention.
In
October, the vulnerable sector shifted. Suddenly, alcoholics were at risk.
Literally overnight, dozens of drunks died of alcohol poisoning in San Vicente.
In spite of the shock, many Salvadorans continued to sell and buy, drink and
die. In the end, 128 alcoholics in numerous communities had succumbed to the
cheap, adulterated liquor, at the hands of businesspeople interested in
economizing in the production or avoiding taxes. No state of national grieving
was declared to mourn their loss.
November’s
economic and social tremor was the “dollarization” strategy announced
suddenly by President Flores. The timing seemed a strategic ploy to divert
attention from the polemic and embarrassing debate into which he had entered
with President (“Dictator”) Fidel Castro days earlier, over who was behind
international terrorism, at the Latin American presidents’ summit in
Venezuela
.
When
this earthquake struck--when this “Monetary (Dis)Integration” law went into
effect--on 01 January, 2001 (immediately following the Christmas / New Year’s
vacation, adding to public confusion and unpreparedness) it quickly became
evident that the intent would be to eventually, within a few months, replace the
colón with the US dollar, not simply offer the dollar as an alternative. Such
“decolonization” appears to much of the population to be, rather,
another face of “colonization” (“Colón” is Spanish for “
Columbus
”), or recolonization, another historic step in shifting from Spanish
to US domination / allegiance. There is much speculation and apprehension as to
what the next steps in this process might be, and growing resistance to the
measure--an unconstitutional measure, according to many analysts--imposed so
abruptly and without consultation.
In
the days prior to the earthquake,
El Salvador
was immersed in another health crisis. Seven thousand children were suffering
from diarrhea as a result of the rotavirus. Seven of them had died, and
Salvadoran parents were again experiencing sorrow, fear and vulnerability.
And
who in
El Salvador
has the means to defend themselves against crime? It could be organized crime
or delinquency; spontaneous assaults or well-planned kidnappings; urban or
rural; daytime or nighttime; rich or poor; children or seniors; at home or in
some office; walking or driving; in one´s car or on a bus . . . . Evidently the
government, the courts, the PNC (National Civil Police) or the Armed Forces
don’t have the answer. Many speculate to what extent they have been the
problem, and will continue to be the problem, in spite of the much-publicized
purging campaigns currently being carried out. Statistics continue to indicate
up to 150 (166 for males aged 20-24) violent deaths per 100,000 inhabitants per
year--the highest in the hemisphere, if not the world.
The
basic equation is always the same: the dollar is infinitely more valuable than
human life. Evidence of this surrounds us each day. By Monday, 15 January,
construction companies were back to work, urbanizing “La Cima”, an
ecologically vulnerable area unnervingly close to Las Colinas. Workers were
obligated to report for work, reluctantly abandoning their families in
precarious post-earthquake conditions, but unable to risk the probability of
forfeiting their employment in this precarious economy of high unemployment.
The
538 landslides caused by the earthquake of 13 January, burying the middle-class
neighbourhood of Las Colinas II, and 97 rural, much humbler communities, are
only a more earthy and dramatic manifestation of the figurative landslides which
bury Salvadorans repeatedly. Nobody knows when or where they might strike;
nobody knows how to prevent them or where to flee to escape them. But everybody
knows that they have been victimized by them before, and that they will be
victimized by them again. “This is the will of God. We must accept it,” is
often their resigned response--an attitude as tragic as the landslides
themselves.
It
is simple wisdom. If one claws away persistently at the base of any
structure--be it the mountain range “La Cordillera del Balsamo”, which slid
over Las Colinas II, converting the neighbourhood into a cemetery in seconds, or
be it the political, judicial, economic and social structure of the country--it
is certain to collapse eventually, destroying those in its path. But those
responsible for such constant erosion don’t seem to care. And they clearly
don’t learn from previous landslides. The virtual judicial impunity that they
enjoy in
El Salvador
is one major factor behind their belligerence.
Alongside
the fatalism of much of the population thrives an attitude of hope, a
determination to overcome, to start all over again, to rebuild from the rubble.
Despair is not an option. “Despair is the luxury of the ‘first world’, one
which we poor cannot afford,” as one campesino so wisely and prophetically
reflected during
El Salvador
’s civil war. God knows, and Salvadorans know, that
El Salvador
is no place to indulge in such a luxury.
Brian
Rude is a Canadian (mostly Albertan), serving as pastor/ missionary in
El Salvador
and the
Americas
for the
Evangelical
Lutheran
Church
in
Canada
, since 1988. For the past six years, he has focused on AIDS ministry in
prisons and Roman Catholic parishes--mostly awareness and prevention, but also
pastoral accompaniment, especially at
Rosales
Public
Hospital
.
The IMF on
Canada
:
it likes the cuts in corporate taxes
it
hates the employment insurance benefits, especially in the poorest regions of
the country
The 2001 “Article IV” Consultation on
Canada
-
Statement of the IMF Mission, January 31, 2001
The IMF
is happy that “improvements in the employment insurance system and in
incentives for low-income working families, and the measures taken to bring the
public old-age support system into actuarial balance have enhanced economic
efficiency. All of these
policies have paid off in the past few years with inflation and inflation
expectations being maintained at low levels despite a marked acceleration in
output and employment growth and a sharp decline in unemployment.” But...
It wants
to see more cuts in employment insurance benefits,
through “measures to reduce the frequency of EI use (such as experience rating
of the EI premium rate, which would tie the rate for individual firms directly
to the use of the system by their workers) and the elimination of regional
extended benefits.”
The IMF
also likes the cuts in taxes on corporations,
and “commends the authorities for the comprehensive income tax reforms and
reductions introduced in the 2000 Budget and in the October 2000
Economic Statement and Fiscal Update and strongly endorses the fiscal policy
framework that has been put in place... The corporate income tax cuts, when
fully implemented, will help bring average business taxation below current
levels in the
United States
, significantly enhancing the competitiveness of Canadian firms.
Signs
of hope in Mexico says Don Samuel Ruiz, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de Las
Casas
In
January, Don Samuel Ruiz, Bishop Emeritus of San Cristobal de Las Casas, visited
Montreal and gave several talks on human rights as part of the SJC’s
continuing celebration of its twenty-fifth year. It
seemed appropriate and inspiring that both of his presentations -- to a group of
Concordia and McGill students in the afternoon and to a larger audience at St.
Edmund of
Canterbury
Church
in
Beaconsfield
in the evening -- ended on a note of hopefulness.
Don
Samuel sees real signs of hope in the fact that the government of Vicente Fox
has taken important steps towards meeting the Zapatistas' conditions for the
resumption of peace negotiations - that the Army has been withdrawn from four*
of the seven points named by the Zapatistas, that the COCOPA proposal on
Indigenous Rights and Culture has been sent by the President to the Congress,
and that nineteen* Zapatista prisoners have been released from jail. He points
out, however, that the San Andrés Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture are
the first stage in a seven-part negotiation process. The next stage is to be
Democracy and Justice. The final stage will address the question of the EZLN's
ceasing to be an armed movement and becoming incorporated into Mexican political
life as a movement or as a party. (*These were the figures as of January 18th.)
Don
Samuel did not make light of existing problems. He is very aware of the
structural injustices that gave rise to the Zapatista uprising and which
continue to exist - in
Chiapas
and elsewhere. Emphasizing the importance of social commitment, he said that a
key question is not whether or not President Fox will fulfill his electoral
promises but rather what will be the efforts of civil sociey to oblige President
Fox to keep his word.
During
his talk in
Beaconsfield
, Don Samuel spoke of the dictum often quoted by development NGOs: "Give a
man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach him how to fish, and you feed him
for a lifetime." Situating the dictum in its structural context, Don Samuel
pointed out that the newly trained fisherman would become an especial target for
unscrupulous suppliers of fishing equipment and for greedy fish buyers trying to
corner the fish market. He thus implied that attempts at social change are
pointless unless the roots of structural injustice are addressed.
In
response to a specific question on the projected Free Trade Area of the
Americas
, he remarked that such agreements are no more and no less than the current
phase of a capitalist system that produces poverty and concentrates wealth. This
system has to be combated with counter-proposals based on human values rather
than economic values. The capitalist system has two principal weaknesses.
Firstly, it depends upon growth and increased consumption but has less and less
need of workers; and unemployed workers are not in a position to increase their
consumption. Secondly, in order to increase production it must ravage the
environment and threaten the basis of human existence.
Don
Samuel pointed out some of the links between events in
Chiapas
and what is happening internationally. The indigenous peoples in
Chiapas
are victims of the global economic system. It is not coincidental that the four
Chiapas municipalities that form the core of support for the Zapatista uprising
are inhabited by small coffee growers who were particularly hard hit by the
drastic decline in world coffee prices. Conversely, if the San Andrés Accords
become part of the Mexican Constitution, a positive precedent could be set for
work in other countries on questions of autonomy in pluri-ethnic societies.
Everybody
who attended one of Don Samuel's presentations was impressed by his warmth, his
humour, and his modesty. He did not spare himself in describing how, in his
early years as Bishop, he came to realize that he himself was unwittingly part
of the system that oppresses and represses the indigenous people of
Chiapas
. He spoke of the historic importance of the movement of the indigenous peoples
in all of the
Americas
, of how they are now becoming the subjects of their own history and are leading
the social struggle against neoliberalism.
Background
on Bishop Ruiz and Chiapas
, Mexico
Chiapas
is a state that is rich in natural resources - oil, hydro-electric power, and
agricultural products such as coffee. Its indigenous peoples do not share in its
wealth.
Like indigenous people elsewhere in
Mexico
, they suffer from malnutrition, inadequate or non-existent health care,
illiteracy, and inadequate housing. The neoliberal reforms that preceded
Mexico
’s entry into NAFTA have exacerbated this situation.
Rural
people in
Chiapas
, as elsewhere, have suffered from the government’s cuts in programmes
supporting small farmers. With the ending of the agrarian reform programme,
indigenous communities with insufficient land have seen an end to their hopes of
acquiring more land. Existing social landholding has become insecure, following
the reforms to Article 27 of the Mexican Constitution, which allow for the
privatization of community-held or ejidal land. Such lands can now be sold,
rented, or mortgaged, or used in business ventures involving commercial
interests outside the community or ejido.
In
1974, the Diocese of San Cristobal arranged the now historic Indigenous
Congress, The demands which were eloquently and dramatically expressed by the
two thousand representatives of the four main indigenous peoples of the state (Chol,
Tojolabal, Tzeltal, Tzotzil) for land, education, fair trading conditions for
their produce, roads, health care, and the withdrawal of the army from the
communities, are still valid. Essentially, they are the same demands the
Zapatistas made some twenty years later and still being made today. The
Indigenous Congress participants also reported that this situation of social or
structural injustice was compounded by the arbitrary behaviour of the state
authorities and the security forces, whose members frequently committed illegal
acts such as extortion and robbery, as well as by the armed violence that was
used by the landlords and the politically powerful to defend their own
interests.
Although
a number of social organizations close to the Diocese of San Cristóbal de Las
Casas, such as Las Abejas, have not accepted the Zapatistas’ decision to
engage in armed struggle against social injustice, there has been widespread
support for the Zapatistas’ social demands. It is important to note that in
the eyes and actions of the previous government all independent organizations
were considered as enemies – at best being excluded from government social
programmes; and at worst becoming the targets of paramilitary violence or
military harassment.
The
present time
The
Zapatistas have expressed a willingness to enter into negotiations with the
newly-inaugurated government of President Vicente Fox, provided that three
conditions are met: 1) that the Mexican Army is withdrawn from seven
specifically named checkpoints close to Zapatista civilian communities (at this
time, withdrawal has taken place from only four out of the seven); 2) that the
Mexican Congress approve a bill that will put into effect the San Andrés
Accords on Indigenous Rights and Culture, an agreement that was signed but never
honoured by the Zedillo government and that had marked the end of the first
stage in the peace negotiations between the Zapatistas and the government. The
bill itself was drawn up in 1996 by the multi-party Peace and Agreement
Commission (COCOPA); it was accepted by the Zapatistas but rejected by President
Zedillo.
It
was the government’s unwillingness to honour the San Andrés Agreement, as
well as the increasing paramilitary violence in northern
Chiapas
, which led to the Zapatistas’ withdrawal from the peace negotiations. The
Zapatistas’ offer to the Fox government comes after years of unarmed
resistance by their civilian supporters and many months of silence on the part
of their leadership. At this very moment, the Zapatista leadership is preparing
to take the historic step of going to
Mexico City
to appeal for congressional approval of the COCOPA bill on indigenous rights
and culture.
This
appears to be a time of both hopefulness and watchfulness. Hopefulness because
of the chance of renewed peace negotiations, made possible by an apparent
governmental openness and by the Zapatistas’ willingness to respond to a
governmental overture. Watchfulness because at this time the military withdrawal
announced by President Fox has been more apparent than real. Few soldiers have
actually been transferred from
Chiapas
. The valid demand on the part of human rights and some social organizations
that the army be withdrawn to its pre-1994 (that is to say, pre-Zapatista
uprising) positions is far from being met. Furthermore, it must be remembered
that the encounter between the Zapatistas (and the social organizations which
sympathize with their demands) and the government can almost certainly only be a
meeting between two different social visions - leading to an agreement to
disagree in the political arena rather than on the battlefield. Such an
agreement would involve both the hopefulness surrounding the beginning of a new
phase of peaceful struggle against neoliberalism and the watchfulness derived
from the awareness that the advocates of neoliberalism will spare no pains in
their efforts to defeat and discredit their political opponents.
Protest
in Ecuador escalates – indigenous peoples and citizen’s groups call for
repeal of IMF-imposed structural adjustment policies
Government
responds with repression, several indigenous people killed or wounded, hundreds
arrested
by
Stephanie Weinberg at DevelopmentGAP and the International Secretariat of the
Structural Adjustment Participatory Review Initiative (SAPRI) - February 6, 2001
Indigenous
peoples in
Ecuador
have been mobilizing over the past month to demand the repeal of new IMF-backed
economic measures announced by the Ecuadoran government in late December as part
of an ongoing structural adjustment program. The
measures involve the removal of subsidies on cooking fuel and gasoline, causing
the former to double in price and the latter to increase by 25%, and a 75%
increase in transportation costs.
The
IMF's insistence on the application of these measures -- as well as a 3%
increase in the value-added tax which is still pending -- has put access to
dignified living conditions even further beyond the reach of large segments of
the Ecuadoran population. The escalating protests in recent days are not only in
response to these economic measures but to the overall structural adjustment
program that has intensified with
Ecuador
's conversion to the US dollar last year.
Beginning
on 21 January, indigenous groups led by CONAIE (Confederation of Indigenous
Nations of Ecuador) organized marches and blockaded roads in the countryside and
cities in half of the country's 22 provinces. Farmworkers, students and others
also joined in supporting these protests. The government sent military forces to
disperse many of these peaceful demonstrations with force, using teargas and
weapons, that resulted in several indigenous people injured, some by bullets,
and several hundred arrested.
In
response, on 26 January, indigenous organizations called for a national
mobilization from communities across the country and a convergence on the
nation's capital,
Quito
. The government responded with further repression.
Quito
was militarized when as many as 10,000 indigenous people arrived over the
course of several days. After gathering on the grounds of the
Polytechnic
University
, they were surrounded by military troops who have cut off water and electricity
and have intermittently been stopping food and medicine from being brought in
and indigenous people from leaving.
Attempts
at dialogue between indigenous leaders and the government have failed to produce
any results, as the government has shown no willingness to discuss economic
policy or refrain from using force against peaceful protest. Indigenous leaders
have presented a series of demands, including an end to the repression and an
open dialogue on economic policy, and insist on meeting directly with President
Noboa. The government responded by declaring a state of national emergency on 2
February, suspending citizens' basic constitutional rights -- including freedom
of association and mobilization, as well as protection from arbitrary search and
seizure.
Several
dozen indigenous people then escalated their protest by beginning a hunger
strike. While tensions have mounted in
Quito
, road blockades and marches have nearly
paralyzed
12 provinces. The use of force by 300 troops to disburse the blockade of a
bridge in the Amazon region on 5 February resulted in at least two indigenous
people killed by gunfire, including a 14-year-old who was shot in the head, and
some 20 wounded. Nevertheless, 5,000 indigenous people returned the next day to
blockade the same bridge.
Media
censorship has made it difficult to ascertain the extent of the mobilization and
protest, particularly outside the capital, and to be certain of the number of
people killed or wounded by military gunfire or the number arrested. Human
rights activists in
Ecuador
say they have not seen the current level of repression in their country in the
last 20 years. Indigenous peoples have been joined by trade unionists,
farmworkers, students, academics, environmentalists, small-scale producers,
women's groups and others to resolutely demand the repeal of IMF-supported
economic measures. They are putting their lives on the line to stop structural
adjustment in
Ecuador
, affirming that this economic model is clearly neither politically nor
economically viable. They want to open a policy dialogue with the government to
formulate an alternative economic program.
As
the government has not shown willingness to enter into such a dialogue, a
national strike has been called for 7 February by a coalition of trade unions,
professional associations and others in support of the indigenous mobilization
and to demand a repeal of the economic adjustment measures and an open dialogue
on the national economic program.
While
the Ecuadoran government is repressing protest by large segments of society
against economic adjustment measures, the IMF and World Bank, who are
responsible for designing and promoting these policies, remain silent. Over
nearly 20 years, the IMF and the World Bank have made the implementation of
structural adjustment programs a condition of financial support to the
government of
Ecuador
. These programs and the specific economic policies they embrace have placed the
major burden of adjustment on the nation's poor and working people, its small
farmers and businesses. This is clearly evidenced by the recently concluded
SAPRI process in
Ecuador
– a tripartite initiative to assess the impacts of structural adjustment
policies in which the World Bank, government and SAPRIN civil-society network
have been jointly involved.
The
SAPRI process of consultation and participatory research on the impact of
adjustment in Ecuador since 1982 concluded that trade and financial-sector
liberalization in Ecuador have led to a marked contraction in the national
productive apparatus, particularly of small and medium-scale enterprises, as
well as a greater concentration of productive resources. This, in turn, has
increased unemployment and underemployment while, along with labor-market "flexibilization"
policies, reducing job security. The lack of adequate, stable employment and the
further concentration of wealth have generated an increase in poverty and a
deterioration in the living conditions of a majority of the Ecuadoran
population, conditions that have been extensively documented.
Furthermore,
the research reflected the belief held by a majority of citizens that a policy
of universal subsidies on certain basic goods – such as gasoline, electricity
and cooking fuel -- is necessary until support for the reactivation of national
production generates adequate employment and greater income for the poor and
middle-income segments of society.
Researchers
concluded that targeted subsidies are unviable in
Ecuador
, where the target group is comprised of the majority of the population and
continues to increase. They recommended a reorientation of macroeconomic policy
to reactivate production, increase employment generation and substantially
improve income levels before removing subsidies or applying measures that
negatively affect the living conditions of large segments of Ecuadoran society.
The
SAPRI process for review and reform of structural adjustment programs is
supported by the
Halifax
Initiative Coalition, of which the SJC is a member, sitting on the coalition
Coordinating Committee. On behalf of the
Halifax
Initiative, the SJC has just begun a study of the social and environmental
impacts of the privatisation that is central to adjustment programs, to be
published this summer.
The
challenges after winning back our water -
The
fight against water privatisation in Bolivia
By
Sarah Harden
Cochabamba
,
Bolivia
January 13, 2001
In
April a broad-based movement of labor, peasants, and university students stood
behind the Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y la Vida (Coalition for the Defense
of Water and Life) and to take back their water. Their
efforts led to the de-privatization of the local water system--ousting Aguas del
Tunari (AdT), Bechtel affiliate-- and substantive changes in water legislation.
Once the international corporation left, the challenge for citizens was to
monitor the actions of the Government of Bolivia to protect new contracts.
A
key element is the reconstruction of the local water company, SEMAPA. When the
directors of Aguas del Tunari, the Bechtel affiliate, abandoned
Cochabamba
, they left SEMAPA with substantial debts. In addition, the political and
business elite launched a campaign against the Coordinadora, boycotting and
neglecting to pay tariffs imposed by SEMAPA. Although the greater public remains
very much in favor of the Coordinadora, the campaign in part has wounded the
credibility of SEMAPA.
Just
as the Coordinadora motivated protest, now it seeks to channel the energies and
creativity necessary to find real alternative solutions to both corrupt public
management and impoverishing privatization of public services. The Coordinadora
is committed to finding solutions to the water problem that gives lie to the
notion that only the private for-profit sector can provide services, and that
treats water not as a simple commodity, but as a public good.
The
challenges of creating a "social SEMAPA", an efficient company
committed to serving the needs of its neediest customers first, are many.
The
assurance of SEMAPA's future will depend on obtaining legal and financial
stability. SEMAPA, working with the collaboration of a support team designed to
articulate a collective vision of SEMAPA's future, through a process of popular
consultation.
My
household on the edge of the city of
Cochabamba
receives water twice a week, mostly in the mornings when water pressure rises
enough to get a good shower.
With
regard to the legal situation, Aguas del Tunari/Bechtel stated in May of 2000
that they intended to take the conflict to international arbitration through the
International Court
for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) of the World Bank. They are
currently suing the Government of Bolivia for close to US $40 million. They want
Bolivians to pay for their bad investment!
How
will we take on privatization and the global economy?
The
answer: reverse the process of globalization, using our access to this system
for international good. Instead of selling water as a human need, open to be
exploited economically, we will promote it as a basic human right. Working from
our community roots, and building on our international networks, Internet
connections we will share our struggle. However, this does not mean exploiting
or selling the
Cochabamba
example, but working from our bases to create together an international
agreement that protects water.
To
the west of
Cochabamba
, the community of
El Paso
supports an irrigation system created by members of the community after they
won the right over the government-run, privatized model. In thirty days, a team
of workers constructed the above ground canal that supplies the community with
water.
In
Altocochabamba, the highest and poorest urbanized neighborhood in
Cochabamba
, women used to travel to the bottom of the hill to draw water for their
families. In an effort to lug enormous amounts of water back up, often they
would hemorrhage and die. While Aguas del Tunari imposed its high tariffs and
cried privatized water, the people of Altocochabamba were paying for water they
were not receiving because of failed promises. Working with SEMAPA the community
has made 800 new connections--a social victory for the city's poorer residents.
The
importance of civil action in the struggle for water rights is alive in the
histories of these neighborhoods. The alternatives suggest resistance to
privatization and effective management of natural resources force people to work
as a community. The goal to unite our energies in the global struggle for
alternatives is critical.
