The story
Founded by Javier Benjumea Puigcerver in 1941.1
On 4 January 1941, Javier Benjumea Puigcerver and José Manuel Abaurre Fernández-Pasalagua, both engineers from the Instituto Católico de Artes e Industrias (ICAI), founded Sociedad Abengoa S.L. in Seville (Spain) with three friends and other family members, with an initial share capital of 180,000 pesetas. Their initial plan was to manufacture a five-ampere mono-phase meter, although the supply problems in Spain at that time meant that the project never got off the ground. But this fact, combined with significant opportunities that began to arise during this era, meant that from 1943 Abengoa began drafting projects and carrying out technical studies, as well as undertaking electrical assembly projects.
2000 Bolivian Water Privatization, Rate Hike, and Violence
Bechtel and Abengoa formed a consortium named "Aguas del Tunari" (Water of Tunari - a local regional term) to file an unsolicited bid to the city of Cochabamba, Bolivia in 2000. Bechtel was a 27% partner and Abengoa S.A. was a 25% partner. This bid was in response to the increasing pressure from the World Bank, which had funded and extended water supply projects for the country of Bolivia, to privatize the water utility of Cochabamba. With the strings attached in 1995, and the World Bank participating in draft bids in 1997, Bechtel and the consortium introduced an unsolicited and unique bid. The bid was accepted, under pressure of the World Bank and the conditions of their loans to Bolivia. The terms were ratified in the often-cited Law 2029 by the legislative body of Bolivia, however largely it had previously been accepted and influenced by local governments. Under the terms, Bechtel and the consortium immediately raised water pricing 35% and then 20% after the first month. Water became one fifth of the average person's expenses and protests erupted. Protests were met with cold shoulder response by Bechtel expressing they would simply cut-off water to those who did not pay. Further protests were enhanced when agricultural sectors realized the bylaws allowed Bechtel and the consortium rights to rain water as well, which was assumed to mean they could no longer collect rain water. Violence between protesters and police resulted in burning of city governments and hundreds of injured within the first days of the conflict. The local governments of Manfred Reyes Villa (mayor) and Jose Pepe Orias (prefect or governor) quickly fled the arguments and disappeared and resigned (respectively), leaving the executive government of General Hugo Banzer Suarez to clean-up the mess. The contract was ultimately abandoned, for which Bechtel in February 2021 demanded settlement. The aftermath of the violence was destruction of public property in downtown Cochabamba paid for by taxpayers, death of (1) civilian restitution by the government, and hundreds of injured police, military, and protestors. A movie titled "Even the Rain" with acclaimed actor Diego Luna depicts a historical fiction story set in this time. For all the same references and further information, see the article Cochabamba Water War.
From Wikipedia’s article on Abengoa, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.5