Are cooperatives a better way to solve Latin America’s water problems?
The price of water can be an explosive issue in Bolivia. In 2001, when a multinational company abruptly raised the water rate in the city of Cochabamba, thousands of people rioted in the streets, sparking a “water war” that resulted in the death of a young demonstrator. In El Alto and La Paz, where a private company controlled by a French multinational has been operating a water and sewer concession for seven years, anger over connection fees recently prompted violent protests. The future of that concession was uncertain when this edition of IDBAmérica was published. But in the city of Montero, where people were asked to pay a US$2 dollar surcharge to their water bill in order to help finance extensions of the sewer system, water rates are a non-issue (see related article “A water service based on trust”.) Though they pay far more for water than consumers in La Paz and other cities, and though they spend as much as 15 percent of their monthly income on water and sewer fees, the people
