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(Thread) The coup in Bolivia is not because of lithium or indium, but it is a war between the forces of resource nationalism & socialism (in this case led by @evoespueblo) and the forces of subservience to Western mining transnationals (in this case led by @JeanineAnez).
As Morales pushed his strategy of partial nationalization, investment into the mining sector dried up. It is at this point that Chinese investment entered ( https://www.asiatimes.com/2019/11/opinion/chinas-links-with-morales-figure-in-bolivia-coup/?_=8987699). Guess what happens next?
One of the key rare earth minerals which I've been following for some years is indium (at @tri_continental we are doing a lot of research on mining). It is essential to LCDs. The story of indium and Bolivia is worth reading - here's my very short report, https://www.salon.com/2019/11/22/the-coup-in-bolivia-has-everything-to-do-with-the-screen-youre-using-to-read-this_partner/
In July 2007, U.S. Ambassador Philip Goldberg sent a cable to Washington in which he pointed out that US mining firms had approached his embassy to ask about the investment climate in Bolivia. Goldberg felt that the situation for mining firms was not good.
When asked if he could organize a meeting with Vice President Álvaro García Linera, he said, “Sadly, without dynamite in the streets, it is uncertain whether the Embassy or the international mining companies will be able to attain even this minimal goal.”
“Without dynamite in the streets” is a phrase worth dwelling upon. A year later, Morales expelled Goldberg from Bolivia, accusing him of aiding the protests in the town of Santa Cruz. Just over a decade later, it was the “dynamite” that removed Morales from power.
Resource nationalism is no longer on the agenda in Bolivia. The fate of Malku Khota is unknown. The fate of your screen is guaranteed — it will be replaced with indium from the Potosí deposits.
And the benefits of that sale will not go to improving the well-being of Bolivia’s indigenous population; they will enrich the transnational firms and the old oligarchy of Bolivia.
