¡Cochabamba! Water War in Bolivia (Paperback)

by Oscar Olivera (Author), Tom Lewis (Author, Translator)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

A new phase in the international movement to turn back the rising tide of corporate globalization was marked by US protests in Seattle and the triumphs of grassroots activists in Cochabamba, Bolivia. Volumes have been written about the struggle to shut down the World Trade Organization meetings, but little has been documented about the arguably more successful struggle to regain control of Cochabamba’s water supply and kick out the transnational corporation that privatized it.

Cochabamba! Water Rebellion in Bolivia tells this story—the story of the first great victory against corporate globalization in Latin America. Oscar Olivera, a forty-five-year-old machinist, was at the center of the movement that brought tens of thousands of ordinary people to the streets in the Andean city of Cochabamba, Bolivia. Olivera, in collaboration with Tom Lewis, presents the ideas and emotions of a first hand participant in the victorious rebellion and street battles that have inspired activists in social movements around the world.

Cochabamba! explains how the city’s water supply was sold to Aguas del Tunari, a subsidiary of the U.S.-based transnational corporation Bechtel. Water prices subsequently rose astronomically and poverty-strapped Bolivians refused to pay. Olivera explains the process of organizing an opposition movement coalition—the Coordinating Committee for the Defense of Water and Life—and relates the dramatic struggles that eventually defeated the neoliberal privatizers.

Olivera reflects on the themes that emerged as a result of the war over water (rapidly becoming the world’s new oil); the fear and isolation which the Cochabambinos overcame through a spirit of solidarity and mutual aid; and the Bolivian government’s criminalization of social movements as part of U.S. President Bush’s global "war on terrorism." Cochabamba! also discusses the impact of the "water wars" on subsequent battles with trans-national corporations and financial institutions.

Oscar Olivera is the executive secretary of the Cochabamba Federation of Factory Workers and spokesperson for the Coordinating Committee for the Defense of Water and Life. He was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize in 2001.

Tom Lewis is a professor of Spanish and Portuguese at the University of Iowa.

About the Author
Oscar Olivera is the executive secretary of the Cochabamba Federation of Factory Workers and spokesperson for the Coalition in Defense of Water and Life, known as La Coordinadora, that led demands for the water system to stay under local public control.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: South End Press; 1 edition edition (November 1, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896087026
• ISBN-13: 978-0896087026
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #362,400 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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  #6 in	Books > Business & Investing > Economics > Privatization
  #17 in	Books > History > Americas > South America > Bolivia
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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration for our times, May 25, 2005

By	in2thestreets - See all my reviews

Tired of feeling helpless in the face of the institutions that try to dominate and control our lives? Reading Cochabamba! by Oscar Olivera may be just the tonic you've been looking for.

When Bechtel--currently (re)constructing Iraq and the vastly over-budget Big Dig--tried to privatize the water supply in Cochabamba, Bolivia the people said No! And they meant it. Ordinary working people participating in assemblies and cabildos (town meetings) developed demands. They proclaimed, "The water is ours!" and stood behind those words. After a series of growing protests shut down the town and highways, Bechtel was forced to flee and the town's water regained.

Due to the strength of the movement, and the connections made between different groups, the water is currently managed more democratically than it was by the government before the privatization. An essay on the challenges of administering the water supply provides further inspiration to those struggling for freedom. (Especially those of us who sometimes wonder, "What if we win?") Other essays analyze the significance of the Water War and are complemented by a selection of writings by Oscar Olivera on the imposition of neoliberalism, which created the conditions for the Water War, and what the next steps towards liberation may be.

The essays "For a Constituent Assembly: Creating Public Spaces," "Petroleum and Natural Gas: Reconquering Our Collective Patrimony," and "The Legacy of the Coordinadora" are essential to understand the current uprisings in Bolivia.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars This book should have been called "After the Water War", February 8, 2005

By	Jesse S. Walker "doomjesse" (Huntington, WV USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

About a quarter of this book actually covers the Water War and what lead up to it. Very basic explanations of what happened and why. The eight days of chaos at the height of the Water War are left almost without description. It seems an odd thing to skimp on details of when the time was so critical.

Most of the book analyzes the impact for privatization and social movements. It's more of a scholarly book than an explanation for the average person.

The end of the book covers the "Gas War" (the fight against privitization of Bolivia's oil and gas reserves).

5.0 out of 5 stars global water crisis, fight back!, May 10, 2009

By	Alison M. Folsom (Las Cruces, NM USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: ¡Cochabamba!: Water War in Bolivia (Hardcover)

The growing water justice movement and the imminent global water crisis provide an important intersection for the power of humanity to over come the power of greed and neoliberal hegemony. Oscar Olivera and the struggle of the Cochabambinos illustrates the type of focus, passion, and urgency needed to combat egregious human rights violations and the leviathan of the World Bank and other international financial institutions.