Martial law was declared in Bolivia in the early hours of April 8 by President Hugo Banzer. The drastic move came at the end of a week of protests, general strikes and transportation blockades that brought large parts of the Latin American country to a standstill.
Hours earlier state officials had appeared to have agreed to one of the protesters' main demands: to break a despised contract under which the public water system of Bolivia's third-largest city, Cochabamba, had been sold to foreign investors. The decision was quickly reversed by the national government. The provincial governor resigned and Banzer appointed the local police chief in his place.
Banzer, who was also Bolivia's military dictator from 1971-78, suspended civil rights, disallowed gatherings of more than four people and put severe limits on press freedom. Radio stations were taken over by the military or forced off the air. Reporters were arrested. The neighbourhood where most of the city's broadcasting antennas are located had its power shut off.
In the capital La Paz, police and military raided the headquarters of the Bolivian Workers' Central Union (COB). The wives of 13 police officers on a hunger strike for better wages were taken away. Police in the capital have mutinied over their pay demands.
The COB called a general strike on April 12 to protest the crackdown.
In Cochabamba, police searched the homes of the organisers of the widely backed water protests, arresting as many as 20 activists. On April 7, tear gas was fired to break up large demonstrations. After martial law was declared, large crowds of angry residents, many armed with sticks and rocks, massed in the city's centre. Confrontations with military and police had resulted in the deaths of five people as of April 11.
Road blockades erected by farmers on major highways continue across the country, cutting off food and transportation to some cities. A large military operation is under way to clear the highways in five of Bolivia's nine provinces.
A $US200 million privatised water project in Cochabamba is to cause a 35% increase in the rates for drinking water. A bill is being debated in Congress to force peasants to pay for water they now get without payment.
Banzer's regime refuses to drop its Cochabamba waterworks contract with Aguas del Tunari, a consortium led by London-based International Water Limited (IWL). IWL is jointly owned by the Italian utility Edison and the US company Bechtel Enterprise Holdings.
The campaign against the privatisation of Cochabamba's water is being organised by Defense de Agua y la Vida (Defence of Water and Life), a broad-based coalition. It is led by Oscar Olivera, who is executive secretary of the Cochabamba Federation of Factory Workers, and works in the Manacao shoe factory, a subsidiary of the Canada-based shoe company Bata.
Large protests were held in Cochabamba on January 12, and on February 4 and 5. The city was paralysed by demonstrations for the five days before the state of emergency was announced. Defense de Agua y la Vida leaders are either in detention or have gone underground.
[From the Democracy Center <Jshultz@democracyctr.org>.]
BY JIM SHULTZ