Quantum of Solace and Water Rights, continued

 

For Clover, Quantum of Solace “comes closer to telling the Bolivian story than the critics were able to address, or notice” (8). With the devastating repercussions of privatization, the citizens of Cochabamba revolted, so that “midway through 2000, the “Bolivian Water Wars” ended with the eviction of the consortium and, shortly, the fall of the government itself” (8), paving the way for the election of Evo Moralis and his Movement for Socialism. Vandana Shiva sees the outcome of this water war as a great victory for “the people’s democratic will” and proof that “privatization is not inevitable, and that corporate takeover of vital resources can be prevented” (103). 

In Quantum, on the other hand, Bond (Daniel Craig) stands in for this communal effort to retake the water supply, winning a battle against an organization that “is everywhere” but remains nameless until Bond connects the corporation with rich “environmentalist” Dominic Greene (Mathieu Almaric). Greene’s “organization” can give Bolivian General Medrano (Joaquin Cosia) back his government as long as Medrano ensures they will gain access to what looks like a worthless desert in Bolivia. Medrano declares, “You won’t find oil there. Everyone has tried,” but Greene explains, “but we own everything we find.” 

Greene’s purpose for this newly acquired Bolivian desert becomes clearer once M (Judi Dench) outlines Greene’s file for Bond, explaining that he serves as CEO of Greene Planet, a utility company and also does “a lot of philanthropic work, buying up large tracts of land for ecological preserves.” But “there’s a firewall around his other corporate holdings” and the Americans claim they have no interest in his work. 

Greene’s interest in water as commodity instead of resource comes through when he admits water “is the world’s most precious resource, [so] we need to control as much of it as we can. Bolivia must be top priority.” Greene even blames the Bolivian government for water problems at a fundraising party, asserting, “they cut down the trees, they act surprised when the water and the soil wash out to sea,”