José Antonio Aruquipa 4/24/2000 President Hugo Bánzer imposes

A SERIES OF VIOLENT DEMONSTRATIONS forced the government of President Hugo Bánzer to break a controversial contract with the Cochabamba water company and hold talks with other protesters, including campesino groups and police officers.

Faced with conflict on three fronts — Cochabamba residents protesting the price of water, rural organizations in the Altiplano objecting to a water law, and police demanding a pay raise — President Hugo Bánzer imposed a state of siege early April 8. The measure was met with resistance that led to violence.

Five people were killed during the first three days the measure was in effect. Four civilians, including two minors, were shot. The fifth, Army Capt. Omar Jesús Tellez Arancibia, 37, was killed near Achacachi, 96 kilometers from La Paz, by a mob of campesinos seeking vengeance for the death of 15-year-old Hugo Aruquipa, who was shot as he was walking to Achacachi from his home in the village of Ajllata.

After the killings, Catholic Bishop Jesús Juárez of El Alto and La Paz Archbishop Edmundo Abastoflor traveled to Achacachi in an attempt to “re-establish peace.”

More than 50 people were injured, 40 arrested and 22 imprisoned, according to press reports. At least eight of those injured by bullets were children, according to family members.

In the past year, Cochabamba has become a center of conflict for the Bolivian government. The city of more than 1 million residents lacks efficient and uninterrupted water service, and last year, the government privatized the water company, granting the concession to Aguas del Tunari, a British consortium.

Since then, residents and civic groups have protested rate hikes that would help pay for a US$200-million project to channel water through the Andes to the city (LP, March 20, 2000).

The latest wave of protests, which took place during the state of siege and in which a 17-year-old youth was shot and killed, prompted the government to rescind its contract with Aguas del Tunari. Administration sources said the government will have to pay a $12-million fine for breaking the contract.

Conflicts also erupted in the Altiplano near La Paz. The Confederation of Rural Workers of Bolivia (CSUTCB) had announced that it would block highways on April 3 to protest government neglect and the approval of a water law that benefits private companies, bypassing traditional water rights.

Additional pressure on Bánzer came in late March when, for the first time in Bolivia’s history, two police officers, Abad Hinojosa and Rosemary Corrales, and a group of officers’ wives staged a week-long hunger strike to protest human rights violations in the police department and demand better pay for sergeants and lower-ranking officers.

A Bolivian police sergeant earns an average of 450 bolivianos, equivalent to $73. Since Bánzer took office in August 1997, the monthly minimum wage for public servants has been about $57.

The protest was suspended on March 31, but Corrales and 11 officers’ wives resumed the hunger strike on April 3.

Faced with unrest on multiple fronts, the government declared the state of emergency. On the night of April 7, officials had ordered the arrest of 22 leaders of the CSUTCB and union and civic organizations in Cochabamba, who were imprisoned in the military post in San Joaquín, in the northern Beni department.

Among those arrested was Felipe Quispe Huanca, executive secretary of the CSUTCB, who is known as “Mallku,” the Aymara word for condor. When news of his arrest spread, campesinos immediately began to block highways with rocks, tree trunks and old tires.

“The state of siege doesn’t mean anything to us. They must free Mallku,” a campesino from Batallas, about 40 kilometers from La Paz, said as he rolled stones onto a roadblock.

Confrontations occurred when military tanks and trucks were dispatched at noon April 8 to clear roads in the Altiplano. Campesinos threw rocks, and soldiers responded by firing bullets and tear gas canisters, according to witnesses.

Earlier that day, police commanders ordered officers to break up the hunger strike, but the officers disobeyed because some of their wives were among the protesters. Police and their wives took over Special Security Group offices and gave the government 24 hours to address their demands for a raise.

“We are human beings and we want humane treatment,” one protesting officer said. “If the military wants to intervene, they’ll have to face the consequences. We are prepared to die.”

On April 9, the government promised a 50-percent raise to lower-ranking officers. The next day, officials announced that more than 20,000 police officers would be mobilized throughout the country to maintain the state of siege.

Meanwhile, the 22 union and civic leaders who had been arrested were freed. On April 14 an agreement was signed under which the campesinos would remove the roadblocks and the government would have 90 days to consider their demands, especially the overturning of the water law.

But the state of siege, which will remain in effect until July 6, has not brought peace. Scuffles between university students and police have occurred daily in La Paz, and communications media declared a “vigil for life and freedom of expression” after journalists received threats and three radio stations were closed.

_ From La Paz, José Antonio Aruquipa