Ten years ago, the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia was home to that country's Water Wars . The people banned together to protest the privatization of water to the California-based Bechtel Corporation and subsequent 400% rate hikes. The success of that movement acted as an inspiration for social movements across Latin America and indirectly to the election of Evo Morales as Bolivia's president. This week (April 19-22), Cochabamba hosts the World People's Conference on Climate Change and the Rights of Mother Earth. As reported by The Guradian, here is the purpose of the conference. "The only way to get climate negotiations back on track not just for Bolivia or other countries, but for all of life, biodiversity, our Mother Earth is to put civil society back into the process. The only thing that can save mankind from a [climate] tragedy is the exercise of global democracy," said Bolivia's United Nations Ambassador Pablo Solon in Bonn, at the end of the latest UN t
Nancy LeTourneau's big picture look at politics and life