1/11/2024 0 Comments Wings of liberty ending![]() But this only sparked a popular rebellion that drove Bechtel out. Within weeks of taking control of the city's water, Bechtel imposed huge increases in water bills. ![]() Then the California-based engineering giant Bechtel was given control of the water system of Bolivia's third largest city, Cochabamba. The gas war bears many similarities to the water privatisation struggle three years ago. But after last week's events, members of his ruling coalition split away and he fled to Miami. nchez de Lozada had already backtracked on the export of gas, offering first to postpone it and then saying a referendum would be held.Many unions and social movements argued that the gas should first be used for Bolivians. A consortium of companies known as Pacific LNG, which includes British Gas and BP from the UK, and the Spanish firm Repsol-YPF, wanted to ship the gas out of Bolivia through Chile. The crunch came when the government agreed to export gas to California. ![]() More than 80% of Bolivians live below the poverty line. Large demonstrations and road blockades in cities such as Cochabamba and El Alto paralysed the rest of the country.īolivians have said "Ya Basta" (enough) after a decade of cuts, privatisation and neo-liberal policies, advocated by the IMF and World Bank, which have increased poverty in South America's poorest country. ![]() After troops fired tear gas, the miners responded by hurling dynamite back at them. The miners had earlier clashed with troops in the city of Patacamaya. Overall around one million people demonstrated in the streets on 17 October to demand the president resign.Ī thousand tin miners marched on La Paz to join the demonstrations. Schools and businesses were closed, buses didn't run and barricades were erected in the streets. The capital La Paz was shut down by a general strike.
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