Blue Gold: World Water Wars

A couple of weeks back I wrote a post that questioned the plausibility of the plot behind the new James Bond film – “James Bond to the Rescue in Bolivia”. The plot hinging on the Bond-villain taking charge over Bolivian water supplies and attempting to pull-off some elaborate coup d’état. The plot may have been elaborate but that is not to say that the control and access to water is not a serious issue in the developing world – indeed it was Bolivian campesinos who gained almost overnight recognition in their fight against the water companies. In response the post I was, rightly, pointed in the direction of the documentary film: “Blue Gold: World Water Wars.”

Here is a trailer for the film - with street battling scenes from Bolivia included. I would like to say would it'll will be coming soon to your nearest cinema, but I'm afraid I don't think it's the type of mainstream documentary that's going to be troubling the Quantum of Solace anytime soon.

James Bond to the rescue...in Bolivia!

A whole series of predominantly negative reviews have meant that I have yet to see the new James Bond film, the Quantum of Solace. Nevertheless I have to admit to being mildly tempted to see how the Bond series could possibly include a storyline that references the struggling campesinos of the Bolivian Altiplano and their fight against Western multinationals:

Bond is on a mission to stop a faux-environmentalist billionaire from secretly appropriating all of Bolivia’s water supply by replacing its left of centre president with a handpicked despot, in a coup which the USA blithely ignores

Having done the Cold War, terrorist and media mogul villains to death I guess it was time for Bond to move on to tackle the perceived villains of the 21st century. But are we honestly meant to believe that theses battles can ever be won by action-man bravado alone?

As this article in The New Statesman, "007 Bolivian socialist?", points out, the Bond story writers have obviously scant regard for the capabilities of Bolivian social uprising in the face of corrupt governments and grasping multinationals – Bolivia needs not the intervention of some dinner jacket-clad action hero, but has been able to succeed over the years with more simpler means, such as demonstrations, road blockades and even the ballot box. Hmm...I think the New Statesman article does take the Bond film a tad too seriously - I don't think they've ever been held as depicting a realistic political commentary on the pressing security issues of the day.

Still, it's a shame the film was never actually filmed in Bolivia. Indeed I'm sure the fact that they used Chile as a stand-in for Bolivia, is hardly to endear Bolivians to film.