Happy New Year.

You may remember an op-ed piece I wrote for The Globe and Mail last April on one of the world's first water wars; in Cochabamba, Bolivia. I charged the World Bank and the giant engineering company, Bechtel, with masterminding a water privatization scheme that brought this state to its knees; both responded to my charges with furious denials that The Globe also published. Well, in December, 2000, I went to Bolivia as part of an international solidarity mission organized by the Council of Canadians to see for myself. It was an incredible journey. But first, the history. Background

Bolivia is one of the poorest countries in South America and Cochabamba -both a city and a state in Bolivia - is one of the country's poorest areas. Approximately 70 per cent of Bolivia's almost eight million citizens are Indigenous, descendants of the Ayamara and Quechua Peoples who were colonized first by the Incas and then by the ruthless Spanish conquerors, Pizarro and Gonzalo, in 1538. For three hundred years, Bolivia's wealth, particularly its silver, was plundered and its people forced into brutal slavery. In 1825, the area was liberated and the country created after long battles (in which women played a major and active military role!) in the great Latin American liberation sweep led by Simon Bolivar. Over the next hundred years, Bolivia lost much territory in wars to neighbouring countries Chile, Paraguay and Brazil.

In 1952, the Nationalist Revolutionary Movement, a pro-miner organization, came to power, but was overthrown by the military in 1964. Consecutive military leaders, most notably Hugo Banzer, a Pinochet-style dictator who ruled from 1971-1978, presided over deepening economic and social unrest for almost twenty years. In 1980, a civilian government came to power; but corruption and nepotism abound in the current coalition government led by none other than Hugo Banzer, back as a born democrat.

Banzer and his coalition have adopted the tenets of globalization and the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank. Under these institutions' structural adjustment programs in the 1980s, the powerful tin miners were brought to their knees and the country's oil reserves and forests were plundered. To add to the burden of the poor, the U.S. is waging its drug war against the coca trade; out-of-work coca farmers, along with displaced miners and their families, are the new homeless of Cochabamba, and can be found sleeping in the alleyways and open markets of the city.

As a result of deforestation, much of the country's water is polluted as it flows down muddy slopes from the Andes and Cordillera mountain ranges. Potable fresh water is the most precious commodity in Bolivia. Many of the rich have it delivered only three times a week. Many communities have no access whatsoever, and haul muddy water from trickling streams for miles or set up camp along polluted waterways in the heart of the cities. The government agency that ran the water system in Cochabamba was openly corrupt and favoured those who could pay under the table.

In 1998, the World Bank, which has endorsed water privatization schemes in many parts of the world, refused to guarantee a $25 million loan to re-finance water services in Cochabamba unless the government leased the public water system to the private sector and passed the costs on to consumers. Only one bid was considered, and the company was turned over to Aguas del Tunari, a subsidiary of a conglomerate led by Bechtel, the giant San Francisco engineering company, and several other construction companies.

In December, 1999, the private water company announced water price increases of as much as 200% and 300%. For most Bolivians, this meant that water would now cost more than food; for those on minimum wage or unemployed, water bills suddenly accounted for close to half their monthly budgets. To add insult, the Bolivian government, prompted by the World Bank, granted absolute monopolies to private water concessionaires, announced its support for full cost water pricing, pegged the cost of water to the American dollar and declared that none of the World Bank loan could be used to subsidize the poor for water services. All water, even from community wells, required permits to access and peasants and small farmers even had to buy permits to gather rainwater on their property.

The selling-off of public enterprises such as transportation, electrical utilities and education to foreign corporations has been a heated economic debate in Bolivia. But this was different; polls showed that 90% of the public wanted Bechtel turfed out. Debate turned to protest and one of the world's first water wars was launched.

Led by Oscar Olivera, a former machinist now turned union activist, a broad-based movement of workers, peasants, farmers and others created La Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y de la Vida - La Coordinadora for short - to privatize the local water system. Hundreds of thousands of Bolivians marched to Cochabamba in a showdown with the government and a general strike and transportation stoppage brought the city to a standstill. Police reacted with violence and arrests and in early April, the government declared martial law. Activists were arrested in the night; radio and television programs were shut down in mid program. A 17-year old boy, Victor Hugo Danza, was shot through the face and killed.

Two wonderful Americans, Tom Kruse of Equipo de Apoyo and Jim Shultz of the Democracy Center, who are now Cochabamba residents with Bolivian families, sent information to activist groups around the world about the uprising. Their information - and the powerful response it triggered -made the Bolivian government aware that its actions were being watched. Government authorities and Bechtel did their best to characterize the unrest as the work of narcotrafficers, leading to some international press reports of the uprisings as Bolivian drug wars. Finally, on April 10, the directors of Aguas del Tunari and Bechtel abandoned Bolivia, taking with them key personnel files, documents and computers and leaving behind a broken company with substantial debts. Under popular pressure, the government revoked its hated water privatization legislation. Deeply chagrined at the failure of its pet project, the local government basically handed over the running of the local water service, SEMAPA, to the protesters and La Coordinadora, complete with debts. The call went out for help, as nothing would please the World Bank and the Bolivian government more than to see the public system fail. We responded. Our Trip

Our delegation consisted of myself, Jamie Dunn, the Council's Water Campaigner, Chief Gary John with the B.C. Interior Alliance and the Assembly of First Nations, Cam Duncan, Latin American Director of Public Services International, and Antonia Juhasz, of the International Forum on Globalization. Vandana Shiva, anti-bio-tech warrior from India was to join us, but could not obtain a Bolivian visa, as there is no Bolivian Embassy in India. She was greatly missed

The morning we arrived, before a very needed rest, we held a press conference. It was packed and we were the lead story all over the news that night and the next day, which was great for our hosts. That evening, after a rest, we attended a special meeting with SEMAPA workers and later, attended a benefit concert to raise money for people injured in the uprising. We met the people who now run the company and heard the story of their struggle since the uprising.

They are very clear: they refuse to believe that their only choice for water services is between corrupt government and for-profit foreign corporations. Water is a public good, they insist, that must be provided by the people on a non-profit basis. The company must be efficient, free of corruption, fair to the workers, guided by a commitment to social justice (providing first for those without water) and it must act as a catalyst to further engage and organize the grassroots. Talk about your Citizens' Agenda

One of the first acts of the new company was to operationalize a huge water tank in the poorest southern neighbourhoods, establishing connections to 400 communities that had been abandoned by the old company. Then, the company established an active presence in the neighbourhoods, listening to the people and working with them to solve problems. In the summer, La Coordinadora organized its first public hearing on SEMAPA, to begin a public process on building a broad, consensus-based definition of what the company must become, and received many proposals from civil society. As well as this outreach, every week, SEMAPA Director Dr. Jorge Alvarado, has a weekly television show in which he answers the public's questions and hears their concerns.

The company has also taken a strong stand against any compensation to Bechtel for its 'losses'; Bechtel is suing the government of Bolivia for close to $40 million US at the World Bank's International Court for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. It is claiming NAFTA-like investor-state rights under a 1992 Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) that Bolivia signed with Holland. Bechtel, an American company, must have smelled the conflicts in Bolivia brewing; late in 1999, it transferred and renamed the holding company of Tunari from the Cayman Islands to Holland. (We need to take these BITs much more seriously. Recently, in an arrogant rebuttal to a journalist who mentioned the defeated MAI,; OECD Director General Donald Johnston said that the MAI is alive and well in the more than 1,500 BITS around the world. He is right. This Bolivia case is extremely important in this regard.) The next day was a full-day seminar (and I mean full day - eleven hours!) on Globalization and the Privatization of Water. It was packed with a wonderful array of academics, workers, peasants, farmers, and even street people. What a lesson in how to do politics in a way that matters to the people! We all spoke, as did several Bolivians, and Oscar and colleagues presented their proposed plans for the future of La Coordinadora and SEMAPA. At the end of the day, we presented a draft of the Cochabamba Declaration (attached) that several of us had worked on at lunch and that was wildly supported by the whole group. That night, they held a lovely under-the-stars dinner for us, with music from an Indigenous anti-globalization youth group. Wonderful!

The next day was the most moving. We were taken by bus, first, to the country to visit with workers and peasants who had built the irrigation system in their communities to learn about their complex water distribution system, and then to several very poor communities in the city to see for ourselves the miracle of water in their lives. In Alto Cochabamba, one of the poorest neighbourhoods in Bolivia, we were greeted like royalty by the whole community. Speeches and testimonies, most given through tears, were followed by sharing Chicha - a very distinctive corn liquor that made my stomach none too happy and that was served in all our visits.

Everywhere we went, Chief Gary John brought out his drum, with its drawing of a grizzly - his totem - and sang his heart out for the people; everywhere, they fell in love with him. But at this one visit, high on a dusty hill overlooking this vast Andean valley, surrounded by inquisitive children and old women sitting in their best colours on the ground, Gary particularly shone. One man had wept as he told us that the browner your skin, the less likely you were to receive water under the old system. A woman told us that for years, women from this community haemorrhaged to death from carting water up the mountainside. That only stopped months before when a new community-run SEMAPA brought in potable water delivery. Gary took his drum and sang a warrior chant to honour the "water warriors" in our midst. The people were obviously deeply moved and we had to literally pull him away from the adoring young women who surrounded him when it was time to move on. Gary was a tremendous addition to our team and is a real ally back in Canada.

The next day, our last, was a day to meet and plan. La Coordinadora and SEMAPA need support - technical, legal, political and financial. It is imperative that we help them in any way we can. If this "de-privatization" scheme fails, the World Bank will be able to say, "we told you so". There are those in the Bolivian government who want to pay Bechtel compensation to prove that Bolivia is ready for economic globalization and will be a good player. There is a real concern that the government of Bolivia is in secret negotiations with Bechtel to settle that dispute out of court (shades of MMT?) and so the timing is urgent as well.

Before leaving that night we toured the market, a twenty-five square block world of its own in which you can buy anything and I mean anything. The meat and animal section was very upsetting - the live caged animals beside piles of eyeballs, tongues and feet, as well as llama fetuses and dead endangered mountain cats. There were no garbage cans or washrooms for this sea of humanity and the alleyways were understandably filthy. But the handcraft pottery and weaving were breathtaking and as always the shining beauty of the people, from infants to ancients, touched as all at every turn. It felt like half of Cochabamba came to see us off, literally waving to us as our plane left the ground. I turned to my co-travellers and said " I think we have all left a piece of our hearts back there."

So we have our work cut out for us. We have all made commitments. Antonia is working hard to put together the legal team; Cam to find the technical advisors; Gary will work with First Nations communities here and around the world; Jamie and I will be concentrating on getting to Canadian government officials and unions to raise the profile of this case, as well as help raise funds. We will hold up Cochabamba as a real example at our water summit in July; an alert, informed international community is the most important ingredient here.

I have been very moved in my travels many times and have seen terrible situations of injustice and deprivation. What moved me particularly in Bolivia is the fight-back taking place. These are among the poorest people in the world. They have been abused for centuries. They cannot count on their governments or the police to provide any justice whatsoever. But they are enormously hopeful and raising a generation of young people who have a huge sense of entitlement and a deep commitment to social justice. They are holding on to their culture, music, dress, traditions, food and music in the face of globalization which is not the case for much of Latin America .

Once again, I am confirmed in my belief that the antidote to economic globalization is not going to come from the privileged of our world, but from those most devastated by its fallout. I learned a great deal in Bolivia. I only hope I can give a little in return.

Next trip is Brazil, Porto Alegre, for the World Social Forum at the end of January. I'll report next then. Buenas Noches.

Adopted draft of the: The Cochabamba Declaration

December 8, 2000 We, citizens of Bolivia, Canada, United States, India, Brazil: Farmers, workers, indigenous people, students, professionals, environmentalists, educators, nongovernmental organizations, retired people, gather together today in solidarity to combine forces in the defense of the vital right to water. Here, in this city which has been an inspiration to the world for its retaking of that right through civil action, courage and sacrifice standing as heroes and heroines against corporate, institutional and governmental abuse, and trade agreements which destroy that right, in use of our freedom and dignity, we declare the following: For the right to life, for the respect of nature and the uses and traditions of our ancestors and our peoples, for all time the following shall be declared as inviolable rights with regard to the uses of water given us by the earth:

1) Water belongs to the earth and all species and is sacred to life, therefore, the world's water must be conserved, reclaimed and protected for all future generations and its natural patterns respected.

2) Water is a fundamental human right and a public trust to be guarded by all levels of government, therefore, it should not be commodified, privatized or traded for commercial purposes. These rights must be enshrined at all levels of government. In particular, an international treaty must ensure these principles are noncontrovertable.

3) Water is best protected by local communities and citizens who must be respected as equal partners with governments in the protection and regulation of water. People's of the earth are the only vehicle to promote democracy and save water.