WATER ABLAZE - Patagonia Sin Represas

4.3 The U.S. Giant Bechtel in Cochabamba and Iraq
Bechtel hit the headlines in another case: after the company had taken
over the water supply in Cochabamba (Bolivia) and raised prices to an
exorbitant level, mass protests and revolts broke out. The government
placed the region under military rule and allowed soldiers to shoot at
protestors, which left several people dead. Bechtel employees “fled”
and the privatisation contract had to be terminated. That was in 2000.
Less well-known is the fact that Bechtel went before the WTO dispute
settlement body, pressing for $25 million in compensation for lost
profits, but ended up abandoning its claims, presumably to avoid
negative publicity.
Similar events took place in two other Bolivian cities, El Alto and
La Paz. Since taking over the water supply in 1997, the Aguas del
Illimani Group, under the leadership of the French Suez Group – now
known as GDF Suez, after merging with Gas de France – had neglected
maintenance and raised charges, especially for new connections. From
the end of 2004 onwards, neighbourhood committees and citizens in
their thousands blocked the access roads to El Alto in protest. Because
of this massive outcry, President Carlos Mesa saw himself compelled to
end the contract with the international water giant. But he, too, became
a victim of these clashes and new elections were called. Evo Morales
became the first indigenous president Bolivia had ever had. The water
issue was so important to him that he chose Abel Mamani, one of the
co-organisers of the protests against Suez, to fill the newly-created post
of “Minister of Water”. (see: chapter on Bolivia)
Time and time again, Bechtel has understood how to get itself into
the limelight, just as it did at the end of the war in Iraq. George Schultz,
former U.S. undersecretary under Ronald Reagan and president of the
Bechtel Group, was chairman of the “Pro War Committee” for the
“liberation” of Iraq and co-financer of the Bush election campaign.
Today, he is a senior consultant on the company’s supervisory board.
Only shortly after the “ending of the Iraq war”, the United States
– who, in the name of “peace”, had thrown the whole country into
chaos in the first place – announced that, within the framework of the
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