Bechtel, implicated in the Water War in Bolivia, will “oversee and manage the execution” of the PRGT pipeline on Gitxsan and Gitanyow territories
Photo: The writing on the wall says: “The water is the people’s, dammit!” Next to it are Dalmatas, “el Grupo Especial de Seguridad” special forces brought in by the Bolivian government to suppress demonstrations, February 2000.
Bechtel, the Virginia-based engineering transnational corporation at the center of the Water War in Bolivia, will oversee the construction of the Prince Rupert Gas Transmission (PRGT) pipeline on Gitxsan and Gitanyow territories in British Columbia.
The Vancouver Sun reports: “Construction on the pipeline is set to begin this month within Nisga’a lands… To maintain the current environmental pipeline permit, the partners must achieve a status of construction being ‘substantially started’ by Nov. 25.”
Offshore Energy adds: “Construction activities, set to start this month, include bridge and road construction, worker housing development, clearing and grading, and establishment of laydown yards and construction offices.”
That article highlights: “Bechtel has been selected to oversee and manage the execution of the PRGT natural gas pipeline, while B.C.-based construction company Ledcor will support the 2024 work plan.”
Davis Thames, the CEO of Houston-based Western LNG, the company that bought the PRGT project from former owner TC Energy, cited the Hoover Dam as an example of “Bechtel’s ability to get the job done right.” But Native American Netroots has commented that dam “indirectly led to the destruction of the traditional Navajo economy, and the creation of poverty and economic inequality among the Navajo.”
The Water War in Bolivia
Bechtel was also a central actor in the Water War in Bolivia.
The focal point of that Water War of October 28, 1999, to April 11, 2000, was Cochabamba, an Indigenous-majority city in Bolivia.
NACLA explains: “The Water War was precipitated when SEMAPA, Cochabamba’s municipal water company, was sold to a transnational consortium controlled by U.S.-based Bechtel in exchange for debt relief for the Bolivian government and new World Bank loans to expand the water system.”
University of California Press adds: “In response, water users from across the region occupied streets and highways, erected barricades, and held mass assemblies and rallies. Rather than negotiate, the government dispatched soldiers and police who unleashed tear gas, clubs, and bullets against protesters and bystanders alike. Undeterred, the protesters regrouped and their numbers grew.”
Ultimately, the resistance won.
Oscar Olivera, of the Highland Aymara and Quechua peoples who make up the majority of Bolivia’s indigenous peoples, has noted: “After the water war, Bechtel went to the international courts to demand that Bolivia pay $25m (£13.6m) for damages and costs. This enraged people even more and hundreds of campaigns around the world were started against the company. After four years, Bechtel dropped its demand for a stake in Bolivian water. A seemingly-invincible multinational had been defeated by a third world city.”
Olivera has also stated of Bechtel in Bolivia: “Its aim was to profit greatly from water.” That aim was backed by state violence.
On February 4-5, 2000, the Coalition for the Defense of Water and Life (La Coordinadora) held a peaceful demonstration in Cochabamba’s city plaza. The police met that demonstration with tear gas, injuring an estimated 175 and blinding two people. On April 8, 2000, 17-year-old Victor Hugo Daza was shot dead by a Bolivian Army captain who opened fire into a crowd of demonstrators. The April protests would ultimately leave six dead and dozens injured and forcibly detained.
And Ximena Ramirez Villanueva has commented in the McGill International Review: “The struggle of the Indigenous community of Cochabambinos mirrors that of many Indigenous communities all over the world.”
As the Gitxsan and Gitanyow demand that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police C-IRG/CRU not trespass on their territory and inflict the violence seen against Wet’suwet’en land defenders and those at Fairy Creek, we will continue to follow this.
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