Bolivian government reaffirms ties with Russia, despite US pressure

The Bolivian government gave clear signals of support to Russian President Vladimir Putin, who has an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague, Netherlands.

Former President Evo Morales (2006-2019) expressed his “solidarity” with the Russian leader and considered that this accusation “is intended to maintain the state of war between two brotherly peoples of Europe”.

President Luis Arce, for his part, had a telephone conversation with Putin.

It was unknown if Arce expressed his solidarity as clearly as Morales did in his social networks.

It was known that they talked about cooperation “in trade, economic, energy, education, science, and technology for the development of our peoples”, explained the Bolivian president.

In this way, the Bolivian government clearly says it is not concerned about the “interfering” expressions made by the United States and refers to the region’s natural resources, such as lithium.

The head of the US Army Southern Command, Laura Richardson, expressed her dismay because the US does not have the status enjoyed by China and Russia in Latin America.

International analyst Gabriel Villalba emphasized in a dialogue with Sputnik that both China and Russia “have seen Latin America as partners, while the US has considered itself the boss of its ‘backyard’, as it sees the countries of Latin America”.

“Bolivia is in the logic of entering into negotiations with partners, not bosses, within the framework of its independence,” the internationalist remarked.

The world’s largest lithium reserves are found in Bolivia, with 21 million tonnes.

For the country, it is essential to industrialize this resource, intending to cease being only a raw material supplier, as historically happened.

“We are trying to strengthen this new technological cycle so that our resources do not fall into mere mercantilism, as has happened from the 16th to the 20th century through French, British, and North American powers above all”, the expert assured.

“STIGMATIZATION OF THE EMPIRE”

In addition to Putin, the IPC issued an arrest warrant for Russia’s commissioner for children’s rights, Maria Alekseyevna Lvova-Belova. Both public officials are accused of illegally appropriating thousands of Ukrainian children affected by the war conflict.

Evo Morales states this is due to “a worldwide stigmatization campaign of the empire against the brotherly Russian people.”

“The US is the real perpetrator of war crimes and crimes against humanity”.

For Villalba, “we must understand that we live in a multipolar world, where new powers have been strengthened, and many others are in decline.”

“The USA is the current power in financial and economic decline and as a model of civilization”.

“The seizure of its Capitol [on January 6, 2021] was the clearest proof that its democratic model does not even work in its territory.”

“On the other hand, powers are growing at the economic, financial level, such as China, so that the global economic axis will turn from dollar currencies to Chinese currency. It is a matter of time”.

Villalba also considers Russia “the only global power that stands up militarily to the US. This has been the case perhaps since World War II. At this juncture, several oil-producing countries assure they will stop making transactions in US currency”.

The analyst pointed out that Bolivia and Russia recently agreed to trade in their national currencies. He also praised the initiatives to create a Latin American currency.

“In our region, there is an urgent need to articulate a regional block that is as strong as the European Union was in its time”, he said.

THE LITHIUM LAW

A former leader of the Federación Regional Única de Trabajadores Campesinos del Altiplano Sud (Frutcas), Beimar Cruz, participated in drafting a lithium law proposal presented to the Bolivian Assembly last year.

The Movimiento al Socialismo (MAS) legislators are preparing a text that brings together several documents drafted by social organizations in the region.

A few days ago, the Potosi Civic Committee (Comcipo) held a three-day strike in Potosí to pressure the Arce government to approve the civic organizations’ bill.

This department is home to the Uyuni salt flat, where thousands of tonnes of this strategic mineral are concentrated.

Cruz was surprised that Comcipo’s demands aligned with the interests the US publicly expressed.

“They [US] are always interested in extractive in our territories, to benefit from our resources and leave the peoples in oblivion. We, who are from the salt flats, will not allow it,” he assured Sputnik.

“Now, it so happens that the same discourse sent by the US is picked up by some opposition sectors of the ultra-right, such as Comcipo and others. They want to include in the lithium law that the salt flats be opened to private concessions,” he said.

Cruz sees a common thread between Richardson’s statements and Comcipo’s claims.

“It is too much of a coincidence. But we are on alert and in an emergency to protect our resources from these foreign interferences”.

Former President Morales warned that US actions to appropriate the region’s resources should be expected.

According to Cruz, “we are promoting the industrialization of lithium with the sovereignty of the Bolivian State. Therefore, Richardson’s statements threaten us”.

The US embassy in Bolivia declared that it respects the sovereign decisions of the Plurinational State in the exploration of its natural resources.

For the peasant leader, “this note from the embassy is a vile lie. They always intervene in countries with natural resources through coups d’état (as they did in 2019) or military interventions”.

With information from Sputnik