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Translation of: Solidarity Campaign with El Alto

Submitted March 4, 2005 - 2:10 am by Amy Casada-Alaniz
Friends:
Below you will find a letter in solidarity with the people of El Alto, Bolivia, in their struggle to have access to drinking water: a basic human right. Key leaders of the community are in their tenth day of hunger strike. Please sign this letter along with the name of your organization, your full name & country to email: info@laredvida.org before Monday, March 7th.
We ask that you also send letters by fax or email to the authorities listed below.
For more information about the struggle in Bolivia you can visit the website: http://bolivia.indymedia.org/
www.laredvida.org
Thank you so much for your support.
…………………….

Sirs: Carlos de Mesa, President of the Republic of Bolivia
        Jose Luis Paredes, Mayor of the City of El Alto
        Juan del Granado, Mayor of the City of La Paz
        Erico Navarro, Superintendent of Basic Sanitation

We the undersigned wish to express our solidarity with the 200, 000 inhabitants of El Alto, Bolivia, who do not have access to drinking water. We condemn the acts of the multinational Aguas del Illimani (subsidiary of Suez) which has raised costs to unpayable levels, imposed high installation fees, and left a great portion of the population without access to service.

We join together and support the admirable courage of the inhabitants of El Alto, who have organized to demand cancellation of the contract with the multinational corporation Suez. But in particular we are solidarity regarding the following:

  1. We support the proposal of the citizens of El Alto who ask for the creation of a public-social company, with democracy, responsibility, and social control.
  2. We support the population of El Alto in their total rejection of the proposal to create a “new model” with the so-called Mixed Anonymous Society and where Suez maintains control over 35% of the shares.
  3. We condemn the actions of the multinational water corporation Suez because upon cancellation of this contract they have threatened to sue the government of Bolivia in the International Centre  for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a court of the World Bank. This reflects a direct conflict of interests since the World Bank controls 8% of the shares in Aguas del Illimani.
  4. We call out to the government of Bolivia and to the mayors of El Alto and La Paz to ensure that human rights, those which Bolivian democracy grants its citizens, to assemble, to protest, and to express their objections, be respected.
  5. We ask you to take immediate action to resolve this situation. The seriousness of this case is reflected in the hunger strike begun by the leaders of FEJUVE (Federation of Neighborhood Groups), since February 21st, & which has now extended itself to other provinces. The well-being of the highest director of FEJUVE is at risk.  
We hope that you will immediately attend to the demands of the citizens of El Alto and La Paz, and we hope to receive an answer to this letter.

Cordially,

……………………

Mr. Carlos de Mesa
President of the Republic of Bolivia
despacho@presidencia.gov.bo
Fax: (591-2) 2153829

Mr. Erico Navarro
Fax: (591-2) 2310554
Superintendent of Basic Sanitation

Mr. Jose Luis Paredes
Mayor of the City of El Alto
intihuara@yahoo.es
Fax: (591-2) 2833341

Mr. Juan del Granado
Mayor of the City of La Paz
Fax: (591-2) 2202307
alcalde@ci-lapaz.gov.bo

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