NO.4 ⏐ APR 2004 ⏐ ENGLISH VERSION Water, Privatization and Conflict: Women from the Cochabamba Valley By Elizabeth Peredo Beltrán With the participation of: Carmen Peredo and Virginia Content: 3 Executive Summary 8 Introduction 11 Privatization and Conflict 31 The Water War 43 Conclusions 47 References Global Issue Papers, No. 4 Water, Privatization and Conflict: Women from the Cochabamba Valley Published first by the Heinrich Böll Foundation, Washington Office, December 2003 © Heinrich Böll Foundation 2004 All rights reserved The following paper does not necessarily represent the views of the Heinrich Böll Foundation Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, Hackesche Höfe, Rosenthaler Str. 40/41, D-10178 Berlin Tel: ++49/30/285348; Fax: ++49/30/28534109
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[email protected] www.boell.org Translation from the Spanish original into English by Sara Stowell. Acknowledgements I would like thank first and foremost the compañeras of the Cochabamba Federation of Irrigators for their participation and interest in the project; the Water Committees, and in particular, the women of the Water Committees; the women of the neighborhood organi- zations, and from the marketplaces. A special thank goes to the women Irrigators of Tiquipaya for their time, their contributions and their interest in the study. I wish to express my gratitude to Carmen Peredo and Virginia Amurrcio, leaders of the Federation of Irrigators, for their valuable help in workshops, focus groups and interviews, and for their important comments. I would also like to thank Omar Fernández, executive of FEDECOR.