By Miriam Colque


Background - Bolivia and the struggle against water privatisation

Bolivia, like all other “third world” countries, has come under pressure from the World Bank and other global financial institutions, to privatise its public utilities. It has privatised oil and gas pipelines, airline, railways and electricity supply. The result has been higher prices and attacks on working conditions. Popular opposition came to a head when the water system of Cochabamba (worth millions) was sold for a down payment of $20,000.

The lucky winner, or so it thought, was International Water Limited (IWL), a British- based consortium, with US-based Bechtel corporation having a 50 per cent stake. The contract had secret clauses and a guaranteed rate of return of 16 per cent. On purchase, IWL increased water rates by as much as 300 per cent. In Bolivia the minimum wage is $100 per month and some families saw their monthly water bill soar past $20.

The people of Cochabamba were having none of this. A coalition of labour, human rights and community activists built an alliance (La Coordinadora) and brought the city to a halt for four days by blockading roads and shutting down the transport system. Over 100,000 people were involved in the struggle which attracted support from 40km around Cochabamba. The government promised a price reduction, did not deliver it and a peaceful march took place on 4 March 2000 to the city's central plaza.

The government's response was to arrest the leaders in night raids, shut down the radio and put the army on the streets, firing against the demonstrators. Two days of conflict saw 175 injured, but the people of Cochabamba stood their ground. The Bolivian government declared a state of emergency but the strikes continued and the government was finally forced to nullify the water contract in April 2000.

It is worth noting that the President was no other than Hugo Banzer, a notorious "former" dictator, then supposedly sanitised by having been elected. Also, Bolivia is suffering from US-led attempts to suppress coca leaf production in its "war against drugs". Coca leaves have been used for centuries for the Quechua and Aymara people for medicine, rituals and means of staving off hunger. Conventional cash crops do not pay enough for the poor farmers to support their families, so the world economy is keeping the majority of Bolivia's population in poverty.

This is the background to the recent visit by Oscar Olivera to Britain as a "guest" of the SWP. Oscar Olivera is a union leader and played a central role in the Coordinadora. One might have thought that this would have been a golden opportunity to bring the lessons of the struggle in Cochabamba to the trades unions in Britain which are being faced by PFI (Private Finance Initiative) and PPP (Private Public Partnership) and forge truly international links between workers



Oscar Olivera's visit and the SWP

He arrived in Britain on 29.9.01 having been contacted by an SWP member who had visited Bolivia some time earlier. He spent most of his time here doing the rounds of SWP branch meetings and some badly attended public meetings organised by the SWP. His contact with the London-based Latin American community was almost zero. This community has a large number of very politically minded members with potentially valuable international links. It was ignored by the SWP.

I was informed of Oscar Olivera's visit and went to meet him at one of the SWP-organised public meetings at the Ponana Theatre in Hammersmith. Next day it was arranged with him to attend a meeting in Spanish organised by Latin American organisations in solidarity with Bolivia at the Conway Hall on Saturday 6.10.01. On Wednesday 3 Oct, the Bolivian SWP member claimed it was “a crazy idea to organise a meeting for that Saturday night and at such short notice. One needed at least two months to organise a meeting and one month to advertise in the Latin American paper, and it would be a shame to bring along comrade Olivera to an audience of only one or two people”. They offered and gave no support to our efforts.

I mobilised numerous contacts in the Latin American community in just a few days and set up the meeting. Three days before the meeting I discovered an SWP leaflet advertising our meeting seemingly under its own auspices. On Friday 5 Oct. I remonstrated twice with the SWP and at the end they said that it had been a "mistake" and they do not work with Latin Americans (politically) because we were apathetic. On Saturday 6 Oct. on arrival at the hall I found the SWP in attendance, with a box of videos (30 copies of ‘The Water is ours, damn it’), setting up a bookstall inside the room and still seeking to hijack the meeting. They were told in no uncertain terms that it was not their meeting and they had no rights to run it. They persisted and even suggested that the chair of the meeting be elected. This was rejected. Lastly, I asked where the proceeds of the video sales went and I was told that it went towards the cost of leaflets, propaganda, etc. and in less than a second they disappeared with the videos. They returned defiantly and wanted to lecture us on issues as racism, asylum seekers, etc. I told them that everyone in the audience would be able to teach them about it as we were the ones who in real life suffered intimidation, persecution, imprisonment, torture, exile, racism, etc. They were told to come and learn from us and stop playing ‘as revolutionaries’, respect us, and stop showing off their ‘great pundits, great masters’ attitude.

Oscar Olivera gave a well received talk to over forty people from: Perú, Colombia, Chile, México, Argentina, Bolivia, France, Spain, Cyprus, etc. The following organisations were represented: Campaign against Plan Colombia; Association of Latin American Artists, Poets and Writers in London; International Human Rights Project – Chile; Latin American Women Rights Service – LAWRS; Golden Years – 3rd Age Project; some members of the Association of Relatives of the Disappeared and many other individuals. We had a mixed audience from children, teenagers, adults and the elderly, not just young professional activists.


During Oscar’s stay in London the SWP were selling a video "El Agua es Nuestra - Carajo!" (The water is ours Damn it!) at £15.00 each. This was produced by Sheila Franklin and 1 World Production. (The SWP refused to sell me a copy!) Later on we learnt that an SWP member had contacted 1 World about the video months ago and had been sent some terms and price sale for distribution in the UK, but 1 World Production had never heard back from her. Presumably they had obtained the video in Bolivia, but 1 World was unaware that the SWP were selling copies. Where had the SWP obtained the copies? Had they made them themselves?

Conclusion

The SWP, having made contact with Oscar Olivera, a member of a key struggle in Bolivia, brought him over to Britain, monopolised his time (to the extent he had little time to rest between meetings and was unable even to speak by phone privately), he had at all times SWP members like bodyguards who used him as their "property" while in Britain. They failed to extend contacts with the British trade union movement and with the Latin American community. Furthermore, they looked down on us. They seem to have appropriated a video, possibly violating copyright law and withholding finance from the campaigning organisation that produced it.

They have displayed the arrogance of a Euro-centric sectarian organisation. They have demonstrated that their view of these bitter and dangerous struggles taking place in the so-called Third World are merely grist to their propaganda mill. Never mind international solidarity of the oppressed masses, just get some people to a few meetings, apply your take over tactic, sell more papers and try to bump up the party membership a bit!

Workers of the World Unite! You have not only your chains to lose, but also the many self-proclaimed "leaderships" that masquerade as international revolutionaries.


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