There was and is a revolution in Bolivia. La Paz, the capital, was completely blockaded by protesters. Highways were made impassable. People fought the police and military in the streets with slingshots and sticks of dynamite. One of the main demands was that President Sanchez resign, which he finally did just over a week ago when he escaped to the U.S., fearing for his life. But the reasons for the revolution extend far beyond Bolivia’s borders.

The main issue was Sanchez’s plan to export Bolivia’s large reserve of natural gas through Chile (or Peru) to the United States. This is just another chapter in a long history of Bolivia having its natural resources exported, along with most of the profits. This has happened with the silver, guano, rubber, and tin industries. The recent upheaval in La Paz was a definitive “no” by the people of Bolivia to the continuation of this pattern.

In 1985, Bolivia was opened up for outside investment. Ultimately, it has lead to a 70 percent poverty rate for the people of Bolivia because at that time, the money from the tin industry began leaving the country. Through the process of globalization, corporations gain more and more control over services and resources throughout the world. Industries are privatized- where natural resource sales profits went to the government to fund social programs, now goes to companies, usually outside the country.

For example: the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia, needed money to increase its water supplies. They got a loan through the World Bank, on the condition that the city’s water system be privatized. The Bechtel Corporation, headquartered in San Francisco, got the contract. Under Bechtel, the quality of water went down, and the price went up 200 percent, and people couldn’t afford using their own water. In the protests that resulted, eight people were killed and former President Sanchez was forced to cancel the contract.

The International Monetary Fund also gave loans to Bolivia. These loans came with strings attached, which were called Structural Adjustment Programs. Lenders like the World Bank and IMF give badly needed loans, as long as countries agree to their economy being restructured to benefit foreign interests. In addition to helping to increase taxes for the lower and middle classes of Bolivia to pay off the loan, the IMF has been pushing for this new pipeline and exportation of gas reserves.

These SAP’s, which are ways for big corporations to hold loans against poorer nations and then take advantage of that nation’s people and resources, will be more formally locked in place if the Free Trade Area of the Americas is allowed to operate. Just as NAFTA allowed prosperous companies to exploit the workers of Mexico through sweatshops, FTAA will make it easier for rich countries and companies to take advantage of poorer ones in Central and South America. If the people of Bolivia hadn’t risen up and fought, Bolivia’s natural gas supply would have left the country, along with much of the profits. The FTAA will make it even harder for people to fight for their rights.

We in the “developed” world get the benefits of corporate globalization: we get cheap gas, cheap clothing, access to tin reserves and the logging of forests. We dump our hazardous waste just over the border with Mexico. We also lose out: jobs leave the country; people around the globe resent us when they figure out what is going on. Ultimately, our own environment is more at risk for destruction, our labor open for exploitation, and our government undermined by corporate interests. The real winners are the corporations who design all these programs. Everyone else loses, especially the Bolivias of the world.

We need to recognize the connections between our lifestyles and the struggle of the people in Bolivia, and many other places. We need to oppose the system of corporate globalization, as made concrete in the World Bank, the IMF, and the FTAA, that is increasing the inequality in the world. The FTAA is meeting Nov. 17 through Nov. 21 in Miami. We must not allow them to continue controlling our lives for their own profit. If not for Bolivia, then for ourselves.

Information from http://www.zmag.org/lam/boliviawatch.htm and

www.globalexchange.org was used in this editorial.

Ian Trefethen is a UMass student.