The Cochabamba Water Revolt – Six Years Later

Dear Readers:

It was six years ago Tuesday morning that the people of this city where I live, Cochabamba, took to the streets by the thousands, put rocks in the roads and shut down the city with a general strike. It would last a full week, see the declaration of a state of emergency and the suspension of constitutional rights, the death of a 17 year old boy, the wounding of dozens of others, and eventually the ousting of a major US corporation.

The “last battle” of the Cochabamba water revolt began six years ago this week.

I have told the story to so many people these past six years that, frankly, it often feels like I am reading off a script instead of digging into a memory. Here’s one of the things that people who weren’t here might have a hard time grasping. It was full of moments that were extremely,extremely frightening for the people who lived them.

One night at midnight Bolivian police forced themselves into the home of Oscar Olivera’s mother, searching for the water revolt’s most visible leader and breaking up the house as they searched (Oscar and other leaders were in hiding). All night long a group of us were on cell phones trying to help people find places they could escape arrest and deportation from Cochabamba to a jail on the other side of the country. A car driving slowly down our street at 2am sent chills up my spine.

Remember, the President in April of 2000 was Hugo Banzer, a recycled 1970s dictator -- Bolivia’s Pinochet. Bolivians had very clear memories about his dictatorship – the murders, torture, disappearances, and jailings. Bolivians knew quite well what Banzer was capable of. On Saturday morning of that week, just as I was about to send out a dispatch about events, all the power went out in our house, which I quickly discovered was not just my house but also the entire northern hillside where I live. The government cutoff the power to take out the television broadcast antennas. My friend Tom Kruse told me on the phone, “Welcome to dictatorship.”

I recount that atmosphere, mostly I think to remind us all that – whatever we think of what the water revolt means six years later – the people who were a part of that revolt acted with great bravery and that should not be forgotten.

This week The Democracy Center is joining with Fundacion Abril, the semester abroad program of SIT, and others, to sponsor a set of activities to help Cochabambinos recover their collective memory of this event – films, art and music, photography and more. A schedule of these is below. If you are in town this week, please join us.

Also, for those interested, here is a link to the full collection of the dispatches that I wrote during the week of April 4-11, 2000: The Cochabamba Water Revolt, Reports from the Scene.

REMEMBERING THE COCHABAMBA WATER REVOLT: APRIL 4-11

The Foreign Documentaries
Wednesday: 5:30 and 7:30 – Thursday and Friday: 5pm

There will be a showing of a collection of foreign made documentaries about the Cochabamba water revolt, none of them ever publicly shown before in Bolivia.

La Fabrica Film School: Pasjae San Rafael 264

K’oa and Music Festival
Friday: 7pm

A traditional Bolivian K’oa and talented collection of artists will perform.

Casona de la Santivanez: (Santivañez entre Ayacucho y Junín)

Photo Display
All Week

An exhibit of photos, articles and other legacies of the water revolt will be on public display in two locations.

Tuesday: Plaza Principal
Thursday – Friday: Casona de la Santivanez:(Santivañez entre Ayacucho y Junín)