Strike – Bolivia For 91 Days

The Cochabamba Water Wars

Cochabamba is perhaps most well-known around the world for its water protests of 2000, which shut down the city for days. The "Water Wars" pitted farmers and the working poor against a government-backed multinational consortium, who had taken control of the city's water supply. Cochabamba's struggle was unusually successful, and has become an inspiration for those who rail against against corporate greed and injustice.

Strike! (Or: Late to Cochabamba)

We learned about the roadblock at 9am, just after arriving at the terminal. Our bus might leave at noon. At 1pm, we were told that 3pm could be the new departure time. At 5pm, we traded in our tickets for a night bus leaving at 9. And around 11pm, we finally got on the road to Cochabamba. A fourteen-hour delay: in terms of Bolivian strikes, we actually got pretty lucky!