On April 15-18, 2010, thousands of water justice activists from Bolivia, Latin America, Europe, North America and Asia gathered in Cochabamba to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of the Water Wars. Dubbed as “III Feria del Agua”, the historic gathering commemorates the successful resistance of Cochabamba’ popular movements in reclaiming their public water system from a private consortium, Aguas del Tunari, which involved International Water, a subsidiary of Bechtel. This inspired grassroots water justice movements around the world to stand up against big water transnational corporations, to demand accountability from governments, and reclaim public water, in the process—making water an arena of social mobilization and contestation and transformed the struggle for water into a struggle for people’s fundamental human right. It was also about reclaiming and redefining democracy and power relations, and challenging corporate-driven globalization head on.
The four-day international fair was opened with a 7,000-strong march of trade unionists, indigenous peoples, rural women, children, and ordinary citizens from Plaza Principal to Complejo Fabril, the venue of the Feria. There were also a number of panels and workshops that tackled alternatives to privatization such as Public-Public Partnerships and community-managed water systems, climate change and water, the commons and the rights of Mother Earth, human right to water and legislative initiatives, among other issues, as well as art exhibits and cultural events.
