Bolivia for sale

These are historic times in Bolivia with Evo Morales, the country’s first ever indigenous president, being sworn into office in January 2006.

Many of the reasons for his election victory can be attributed to a growing resistance to the economic model that Bolivia has been following since the 1980s. Characterised by the large scale privatisation of state owned enterprise and opening up of domestic markets, the policy has been blamed for huge rises in unemployment and continuing poverty.

Large scale protests against water and gas privatisations in particular fuelled Evo Morales’ victory.

In Bolivia for Sale Damian Lewis speaks with campaigners and people affected by the economic model followed for the past 20 years. He hears how the newly privatised water company has failed to provide for poor people.

He visits a gas processing plant and hears from experts who say that Bolivia has failed to profit from recently discovered reserves worth an estimated $250 billion.

He hears the story of the ‘Gas Wars’, the popular protests that toppled a president and put gas on the political agenda.

Four thousand metres up in the stunning Andes he meets a dairy farmer struggling to survive since privatisation led to the domination of the milk market by one multinational.

http://www.communitychannel.org/content/view/776

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/4813254.stm