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By C.J. Atkins
Lithium is the key ingredient for the batteries fueling the world’s electric car and smartphone revolution. Market analysts speculate that by the mid-2020s, lithium supply will be straining to keep up with demand from auto and mobile device manufacturers. It’s being called the “gold of the 21st century.” Bolivia’s largely untapped Salar de Uyuni salt flats, located high in the Andes, are estimated to contain between 25 and 45% of the planet’s known reserves. The government of Evo Morales has been working to create a publicly-owned lithium industry to help diversify his country’s economy and raise more of its people out of poverty.
Efforts to get at the metal by multinational mining companies from the U.S., Canada, South Korea, and others have so far largely faltered. A joint venture with a German company was canceled by the Bolivian government last week over concerns that not enough benefit would go to the indigenous people who live near Uyuni. Chinese and Russian firms have been among the few that have inked deals.
Given the fate of too many progressive governments in this part of the world over the last century, the next part of the story was unfortunately totally predictable. This weekend, the government of Bolivian President Evo Morales was overthrown in a military coup.
While there are too few details emerging yet to draw any kind of direct line from the interests of the resource giants to the events of the last several days, the military overthrow of the Morales government—to cheers from the Trump administration, the Trudeau government in Canada, and the U.S.-dominated Organization of American States—shows the dangerous stakes for any small resource-rich country which tries to embark on an economic path that favors the poor and working class over the demands of the rich, corporations, and imperialist states.
After days of right-wing demonstrations following Morales’ re-election in October, the military made its move on Sunday evening...
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