Power to the people: Lithium sparking an economic revolution in Bolivia

Despite living in a country rich in natural resources, a whopping 60 percent of the Bolivian population live in poverty.

This may be about to change as the South American country adopts a brand new constitution and takes the first steps towards exploiting what may turn out to be its most valuable asset – the vast lithium deposits in the desolate salt flat of Salar de Uyuni.

A popular tourist attraction and environmental wonder situated high in the Andes, Salar de Uyuni is thought to contain 5.4 million tonnes of lithium – the largest reserves of the metal in the world.

Lithium is becoming increasingly valuable as the world seeks to decrease its reliance on fossil fuels and move towards new transport technologies.

Electric and petro-electric hybrid cars are being touted as the way of the future. Lithium batteries, already widely used in cell phones and laptops due to their large energy storage capacity, are currently the most likely contenders for use in the new-generation vehicles.

But lithium is reasonably scarce, and with demand set to increase rapidly and possibly outstrip available supplies within a decade, interest is growing in Bolivia’s potential as a supplier.

Japanese and French business interests have already been lobbying the Bolivian Government for access, but socialist President Evo Morales is determined that all profits from the exploitation of Bolivian resources will benefit the Bolivian people, rather than just politicians and overseas corporations.

Elected in 2006, Morales already has a reputation for taking a hardline when it comes to protecting Bolivia’s exploitable resources and the country’s sovereignty.

He’s put Bolivia’s natural gas and oil industries under government ownership and expelled the US ambassador in 2008, accusing him of stirring up unrest.

President Morales has also been responsible for the adoption of a new constitution for Bolivia. The constitution, which has not been popular with Bolivia’s elite, includes important reforms to the rights of indigenous people.

These provisions may give people such as the salt harvesters who work the flats and the farmers who scrape a living from around the edges of the Salar de Uyuni a say in how the natural resources of the area are used or even give them the power of veto to prevent mining taking place at all.

More importantly, the constitution underlines Bolivia’s determination to maintain control of their own natural resources, with the requirement that the profits from the exploitation of those resources must be reinvested in Bolivia.

The country has undertaken to avoid the abuses of the colonial era, where Bolivia’s silver wealth enriched Spain, rather than Bolivia itself.

Bolivia has been taking things slowly in relation to the possible extraction of lithium from the salt pan but now a pilot plant is being built.

The ‘steady as she goes’ attitude continues and it seems that lithium mining, while potentially a huge boost for Bolivia’s struggling economy, will not go ahead unless it’s also beneficial for the people, the environment and the country’s autonomy.

Ultimately, Bolivia is formulating a new model for third-world economies in possession of valuable natural resources and the world should watch with interest.

By Jo Blick