The World Bank

Banco Mundial=World Bank in Spanish

Went to the World Bank today.  THAT was a pretty highly-charged activity, after all the readings and lectures I’ve had about the evils of the World Bank.  Here’s a quick summary, straight from my notes from Dignity and Defiance:

-created after WWII to finance infrastructure projects in countries hurt by the war

-along with the International Monetary Fund (IMF), the World Bank’s goal was to prevent a depression like the one before WWII

-the World Bank made privatization of natural resources a requirement for Bolivia to get funding (from what I can tell, this was in the 1990s)

            -Bolivia NEEDS World Bank assistance to function

-Privatization means that instead of the state providing water to the people, paid for by taxes, a company provides water to those who can pay for it

-Instead of funds from natural resources going to the government, they instead go to a private company, which may or may not give a fair share to the government

-In the late 90s, to comply with World Bank demands, Cochabamba (where I live) sold its public water company to Betchel (a US owned company).  Betchel hiked people’s water bills by 50% (though it claimed the increase was only 35%).  The contract gave Betchel the right to ground water, rain water, city water…if you couldn’t afford the rates you would have NO water.  (This brought on the Water Revolt in 2001, where Cochabamba kicked out Betchel and water was returned to public control.)

So at the World Bank, they told us about Bank history, admitting that they were wrong in the 70s and 80s but claiming they were actually helpful today.  They told us that forced privatization in the 70s was bad, but that now privatization is not a prerequisite for aid.  Our speakers emphasized that the Bolivian government decides on projects and the Bank just provides funding.  They said that there are no more prerequisites except being a World Bank member.  They painted a pretty picture but it’s hard to buy it after all the bad things the World Bank has done.  So I’m reserving judgement…

Then we talked to a feminist group called “Mujeres Creando.”  They were such a totally awesome group of strong women!  They said that behind every happy woman is an abandoned “machisto,” or chauvinist.  They denounced the idea of complimentary-ism, which is a big part of the culture here.  (Example: Women can carry the kids and men can make the decisions—they each have different roles that complement each other.  But these women are not down with that!)  They also talked about how the only way to be a woman in Bolivia is by being a mother.  They think those roles should be separated, because woman without kids is still just as much of a woman.