Mexico and Bolivia plan to create ‘Lithium OPEC’

The traditional event celebrating the Day of the Sea, in which Bolivia claims a maritime outlet for the country like the one it had until its defeat in the War of the Pacific (1879-1883), the main theme turned out to be another: the exploitation of lithium.

In his speech, the country’s president, Luis Arce, said that his government’s projects include the possibility of creating an “OPEC for lithium”, with powers to control the world price of this mineral, as the Organization of Exporting Countries does. of Petroleum (OPEC) with the so-called “black gold”.

“Our lithium should make it possible to move forward on the path to our full independence. To gravitate to the market in a sovereign way, with prices that benefit our economies [dos países latinos]and one of the ways to do that is what President Andrés Manuel López Obrador proposed to me, which is to create a kind of ‘OPEC for lithium’”, revealed the Bolivian representative.

According to Arce, the plans for the creation of this possible organization should soon include invitations for Argentina, Peru and Chile to be part of the initiative.

“We have lithium in Bolivia, Chile, Argentina and Peru, and we are willing to design, jointly, a policy that ensures the position of our countries as providers of this type of energy under sovereign conditions, which favor our people”, he added. .

Arce did not specify whether the plans for creating the “OPEC for lithium” would only involve Latin countries, or would also be open to other countries with large reserves of the mineral, such as China and Australia, but hinted that the organization should not open up to large countries in the West, and his argument for doing so made clear reference to the United States.

“We do not want our lithium to be seen by any Southern Command or to be a reason for external harassment or destabilization of democratically elected governments,” added the Bolivian president.

This last statement also alludes to the coup d’état in his country, against former president Evo Morales, which would have been planned to meet the interests of Elon Musk, as the businessman himself confessed some time later.