Subject: Martial Law Declared In Bolivia

Dear Friends:

The situation here in Bolivia remains critical. Since the declaration of martial law yesterday at least three people have been killed, including a 17 year old boy shot by soldiers with live ammunition here in Cochabamba. More than 30 people in Cochabamba alone have been injured from conflicts with the military. Respected leaders of the water protests have been jailed, some flown to a remote location in Bolivia? '2s jungle. Soldiers continue to occupy the city? '2s center. However, there is now something very real and straightforward you can do to help.

The massive protests that prompted the declaration of martial law here were prompted by the sale of Cochabamba? '2s public water system to a private corporation (Aguas del Tunari, owned by International Water Limited) which then doubled water rates for poor families that can barely afford to feed themselves. It turns out that that the main financial power behind that water corporation in the Bechtel Corporation, based in San Francisco (Source: http://www.bechtel.com/whatnew/1999artsq4.html).

The people of Bolivia have made it very clear that they want Bechtel out. The Bolivian government is so committed to protecting Bechtel that it has declared martial law and killed its own people. While some in the government here are saying this afternoon that Bechtel will leave, given the government's reversal on the same promise Friday the statement has no credibility here ansent a written agreement and end to martial law. It is critical that pressure be brought to bear directly on Bechtel in the US. You can help, here? '2s how:

1) Send an e-mail, letter, fax or make a phone call to:

Riley Bechtel, Chairman and CEO, Bechtel Corp E-mail: northame@bechtel.com Tel: (415) 768-1234 Fax: (415) 768-9038 Address: 50 Beale Street, San Francisco, CA 94105

2) The Message:

"Bolivians have made it absolutely clear that they want Bechtel? '2s water company, Aguas de Tunari, out of Bolivia, through a week of huge protests that have nearly shut down the country. To protect Bechtel, the Bolivian government has now put the country under martial law, leaving many dead and wounded. Bechtel has a responsibility to honor the wishes of Bolivians and bring the crisis to an end by immediatley signing an agreement to turn the water system back over to Bolivians."

3) Please send this information as far and wide as you can. More than 1,000 other are receiving this message today. Even 100 e-mails ro calls to Bechtel Monday will make an enormous difference.

To give you some additional context on events here I am including below an article, which I published in Saturday? '2s San Jose Mercury News. The article went to press just before the government reversed position and declared martial law.

Many thanks,

Jim Shultz The Democracy Center mailto:JShultz@democracyctr.org

for more information please visit http://www.1worldcommunication.org

Ravi Khanna, Director 1world communication P. O. Box 2476 Amherst, MA 01004 Phone: 413-323-7629 Fax: 413-323-9348 E-mail: mailto:oneworld@igc.org Web-site: http://www.1worldcommunication.org

-- GeoPol (geopol@tyranny.isus), April 12, 2000

Answers

I think boxes of fresh doggie-doo might make a more effective message to send to Bechtel than mere letters or faxes. Can you imagine them getting thousands and thousands of "aromatic" messages?

-- Flash (flash@flash.hq), April 12, 2000.

It's always a good idea to first gather the facts. What is the average family in the affected area and how much (in local currency units) did the water bill go up by? Are there alternative (& safe) water sources? First we should know the facts...THEN we can throw the dogpile.

-- Just (TheFacts@Maam.com), April 12, 2000.

Ooops, that was meant to be the "Income" of the average family ...

-- Just (TheFacts@Maam.com), April 12, 2000.

Gee, ain't it strange? Martial Law declared in Bolivia, people being shot and killed because their water is now owned by Bechtel in San Francisco, and not a word in our highly informative media. Wonder how they've missed this. But, we all know how many times a day, Elian takes a poop, don't we?

-- Richard (Astral-Acres@webtv.net), April 12, 2000.

Thanks for the article, Geo. Made me think: in the past year two of my three main utilities (natural gas, electricity) have been privatized and de-regulated. The only one left still under municipal control is water. How long will it be before the corporations get ahold of that?

-- viewer (justp@ssing.by), April 12, 2000.

The link back to Bechtel doesn't work so I have no idea if the link between Bechtel and Bolivia is correct. It seems to me that the protests have nothing to do with Bechtel per se but are protests by people unhappy paying more for water. I suspect they could care less if Santa Claus owned the water system as long as they didn't have to pay more.

-- Jim Cooke (JJCooke@yahoo.com), April 13, 2000.

"Privatisation",Deregulation"a new Type of "Terrorism"and Robbery.Causes of Revolutions,Hitler Regimes and eventual Uprisings of the Public.

-- Fritz de Plumber (Hosed@home.y), April 13, 2000.

Too bad Bolivia has gun control. If the peasants were armed, the bad guys couldn't have their way with them so easily.

This brings to mind an interesting quote I saw yesterday:

"This year we will go down in history. For the first time a civilized nation has full gun registration. Our streets will be safer, our police more efficient, and the world will follow our lead into the future."

Bill Klinton?

Nope.

Adolph Hitler (1935)!

-- Flash (flash@flash.hq), April 13, 2000.

"The massive protests that prompted the declaration of martial law here were prompted by the sale of Cochabamba? '2s public water system to a private corporation (Aguas del Tunari, owned by International Water Limited) which then doubled water rates for poor families that can barely afford to feed themselves."

Gee. Looks like Ken Decker was right. The free market forces are solving the water problem.

-- (@ .), April 13, 2000.