An Actor's View Of La Paz

by David Atkinson, Bolivia: The Bradt Travel Guide, March 1, 2007

As the world trade talks in Hong Kong approached, Christian Aid was looking for the most appropriate place to take the actor Damian Lewis. Where were the issues of trade, particularly enforced liberalisation and privatisation on which they campaign, best illustrated? The answer was Bolivia. Christian Aid works on eight projects in the country, covering the rainforests in Beni to the Andean highlands.

"I was originally going to travel with Christian Aid to Africa, but the stories about the privatisation of the gas and water sectors were strongly associated with what would be discussed in Hong Kong," says Lewis.

Since the turn of the millennium, Bolivia has seen huge riots around the issues of water and gas. The gas riots in 2003 and 2005 occurred because ordinary Bolivians felt disenfranchised by the deal, which allowed foreign companies to pay a very low rate of tax after the country's gas reserves had been privatised in 1996. Foreign companies now control the rights to Bolivian gas, paying tax into the local economy at a fraction of what similar companies would pay in many other countries. This means that Bolivia was denied much-needed revenue and remains the poorest country in South America.

During the trip, Lewis met Maxima Cari, a mother of three who had to dig a well 8m deep to find water. Even then, the water is still filthy. Her story is typical of the many who have been denied access to clean water since the privatisation of water services in 1997. To get connected to the supply, people have to pay charges that can amount to nearly half their annual salary.

"Meeting Maxima Cari was remarkable," says Lewis. "The poverty itself was not shocking to me, as I'd seen poverty before, but it was the reasons for her poverty which appalled me. I support Christian Aid's view that privatisation of basic services should not be forced on developing countries like Bolivia."

British actor Damian Lewis visited Christian Aid partners Fundacion Solon and CEDLA in La Paz in the spring of 2006 to see the effects of trade liberalisation on poor Bolivians. To find out more about Christian Aid's work in Bolivia, see www.christianaid.org.uk.