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NEWS & LETTERS, April-May 2006Workers battle privatization in El SalvadorEl Salvador's recent past is peppered with privatization attempts that led to increased prices, mass firings and, in some cases, massive popular resistance to defend access to public services. The sale of the telecommunications sector and the attempt to privatize parts of the public healthcare system provide starkly contrasting outcomes. In 1998, ANTEL, the former state-owned telephone company, was sold to France's Telecom, which then sold it to America Mobil. The sale and re-sale led to the layoff of 5,000 workers, the loss of seniority, salary cuts and the dissolution of ASTEL, the ANTEL workers' union. Three years passed before workers could overcome government obstacles and legally re-constitute a union, now known as SUTTEL. Not all government attempts at privatization have gone according to plan. In 2002, the nurses and doctors of the Salvadoran Social Security Hospital System went on strike to oppose the implementation of a healthcare voucher system and the privatization of hospital janitorial services. Tens of thousands took to the streets in "white marches" (named for hospital employees' white scrubs). Resisting jail and constant repression, healthcare workers and supporters forced the government to retract its privatization proposal. Moreover, the Legislative Assembly passed the "State Guarantee of Health and Social Security," written by activists to protect access to care and bury the healthcare privatization issue. Doctors and nurses fired for taking part in the strikes were ordered re-hired by the Supreme Court. Resistance to water privatization has been common throughout Latin America since the 1980s. But the resistance in Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2000 raised eyebrows because of its mass character and its principled opposition to corporate control of water. The Bolivian government granted Bechtel-subsidiary "Aguas del Tunari" a 40-year contract to run Cochabamba's water system in 1999. The contract imposed fines for home rainwater collection and a 100% rate hike. The increase meant that many families who could afford it were spending one-fifth of their monthly incomes on potable water. In January 2000, a four-day strike against the Aguas de Tunari contract froze the city. Facing off against government repression, further marches resulted in 200 people injured, and one dead. When the government desperately negotiated a rate rollback with Aguas de Tunari, movement leaders didn't budge. Finally the government nullified the contract and created a new publicly elected water commission. Bechtel, for its part, is suing Bolivia in World Bank arbitration court for $25 million for breach of contract. Movements in Honduras, Nicaragua, and Costa Rica have stalled or stopped water privatization plans. All three countries, however, have initiated "pilot projects" allowing private investment in some cities. Historic memory of Latin American resistance to privatization is not lost on Salvadoran officials as they continue their march to decentralize the public water company and implement co-investment. At a November 2005 forum on water management at the San Salvador Sheraton Hotel, a government water technician obediently explained, "Co-investment is not the same as privatization. We're not talking about a Cochabamba here." Activists in the audience roared, but the declaration revealed the government's cognizance of recent history: officials here have tweaked their strategy and are planning a kinder, gentler privatization, and they're hoping no one notices. Meanwhile, residents like Azucena in San Martín continue to suffer the effects of an underfunded public water system held hostage by the drive to privatize. "They charge me about $7 per month, but water only comes every three days," she says. "I don't know who is responsible, but service should be better." --Paul Pollack |
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