Evo Morales denounces that the US seeks to intervene in Bolivia over lithium

Former Bolivian President Evo Morales (2006-2019) denounced that the US is preparing an intervention in the South American country to seize the 21 million tonnes of lithium reserves, which, together with Argentina and Chile, add up to 43 million tonnes of the metal.

“We denounce that the US is preparing through the Southern Command the execution of an interventionist plan in Bolivia and sister countries in the region with the excuse of guaranteeing democracy and security. Their real interest is to subjugate us politically to steal our natural resources,” he said via Twitter.

The head of the US Southern Command, Laura Richardson, stated on March 8 before the US House of Representatives that China was expanding its influence in South America and the Caribbean while her country was at the forefront of a “decisive decade” to take control of the southern hemisphere.

“In addition to reiterating her obsession with exploiting Latin America’s natural resources, especially the lithium of Bolivia, Chile, and Argentina, she admitted to having personally visited 13 countries and having held meetings with 90 ministers and defense authorities of the region,” Morales denounced.

In the opinion of the former Bolivian president, Washington’s plan would fail because the people of Latin America would never again be subjugated by US imperialism.

“Richarson spoke of building trust with countries in the region but repeated attacks against Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua with lies and political accusations. She denounced an alleged “malign activity” of China and Russia but forgot about the coups sponsored by the White House”, he pointed out.

On January 20, the Bolivian government signed an agreement with the Chinese consortium CBC, formed by the companies Catl Brunp & Cmoc, to construct two industrial complexes based on Direct Lithium Extraction (DLE) technologies in the salt flats of Potosí and Oruro in southwestern Bolivia.

Bolivia (21 million tonnes of lithium) is part of the ‘Lithium Triangle‘ in Latin America, together with Argentina (19 million tonnes of lithium) and Chile (9 million tonnes), which together have the largest reserves in the world.

With information from Sputnik

More: Bolivia news in English, every day from The Rio Times.