People power

1 March 2001Feature

The declaration of martial law in Bolivia last year as a response to nonviolent protest against water privatisation exposes the relationship between the military and economic interests. Chris Ney talked with prominent Bolivian activist Oscar Oliveraabout the impact of World Bank privatisation programmes, the mass mobilisation of concerned citizens, and the response of the state.

As thousands of protesters filled the streets of Washington in April 2000, closing the US capital to oppose the policies of the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, their peers in Bolivia were demanding the right to drinking water.

Following massive protests against the privatisation of the nations water supply, the Bolivian government had declared martial law. A leader of the Bolivian movement, Oscar Olivera, escaped the repression just in time to join the Washington…

1 January 2001News

Almost nonviolent - marred only by the deaths of two people - was it, or is it, a revolution? 

The west has hailed the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia's election of President Kostunica as the triumph of democracy - though whether Kostunica actually received over 50% of the votes will probably never be known. Nevertheless, the West is falling over itself to invite the new FRY into their gang: OSCE, UN - they'll bejoining NATO next!

For those within Serbia who spent the past decade opposing Milosevic, his wars and his policies it is a time for celebration, but also a time for…