Peace. The most recent statements by the Commanding General of the US Southern Command (Southcom), Laura Richardson, have met with sharp criticism in Bolivia. The Southcom is responsible for the coordination and direction of all US military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.
Richardson spoke to the House Defense Committee last Wednesday about “malicious activities” by “opponents” of the United States in the so-called Lithium Triangle (Bolivia, Chile, Argentina). The USA had “ignored its backyard” for too long, according to the general (america21 reported).
Bolivian Minister of Hydrocarbons and Energy Franklin Molina said to this: “Bolivia does not allow any interference of any state in the world“. In 2006, the South American country decided in “complete independence” on a path as far as the industrialization of natural resources was concerned. “There are no agreements here with the IMF, the World Bank or any country in the north to develop our own destiny”. Bolivia is “sovereign to select and work with those who offer us the best conditions for the country,” emphasized Molina.
“It is clear that these statements reflect a lack of analytical skills, but also a lack of respect for the countries of the Lithium Triangle. They testify not only to desperation, but also to a lack of global vision of what is happening in the world,” added the minister.
With regard to the sovereign use of lithium, he emphasized the importance of cooperation between the countries of the triangle and other states. Therefore, his government has already held a meeting with the responsible ministers of Mexico, Chile and Argentina to strengthen relations, “not only to accelerate the industrialization processes (in the countries), but also to create an exchange that allows us to strengthen our development model,” said Molina.
The government of the Movement for Socialism (MAS) of President Luis Arce had agreed on January 20 with the Chinese consortium CBC to develop two industrial complexes for the extraction of lithium. The agreement between the state-owned company Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and CBC provides for investments of one billion US dollars in infrastructure. According to Arce, YLB actively participates in and controls the entire production chain. CBC had participated in the trial process with seven other companies and the requirements set by YLB Fulfills.
The general said on Wednesday that China is expanding its influence in Latin America and the Caribbean and “manipulating” the governments there with “predatory investment practices”. This region is rich in resources, “and I am concerned about the malicious activities of our adversaries who are taking advantage of this by pretending to invest when in reality they are just exploiting,” she said.
The head of the US Southern Command emphasized that the Lithium Triangle contains “60 percent of the world‘s lithium”: “Argentina, Bolivia and Chile have it, and (our opponents) are taking the resources away from these countries and their people.” Richardson was repeating what she said before the Atlantic Council in January, where she discussed the strategic importance of Latin America’s natural resources to the United States spoken and the People’s Republic of China as the biggest “malicious adversary” there, followed by Russia (america21 reported).
Also the ex-president of Bolivia and chairman of the MAS, Evo Morales, reported Speaking out via Twitter, she dismissed “the threats” from the general, “who echoes her country’s predatory interest in the lithium triangle…the water and oxygen of the Amazon and the gold of Venezuela.”
For the US, China has a “malicious influence” in the region, but for “the free peoples” of Latin America, China is a strategic ally that offers cooperation without strings attached. “Free Latin America will never again be the backyard of interventionism,” said Morales, whose tweets met with widespread approval.
Source: Breaking Latest News
