Bolivian President Alleges Failed 'Coup' Attempt All About Lithium

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By Alex Kimani - Jul 07, 2024, 4:00 PM CDT

Despite Bolivia's large lithium deposits, technical challenges have hindered production.



Last week, a significant political crisis unfolded in Bolivia after soldiers led by Army Commander General Juan José Zúñiga engulfed the Bolivian government palace using armored vehicles, calling to “restore democracy and free political prisoners.” The attempted coup lasted only a few hours with leftist President Luis Arce quickly installing a new brass who called off the troops. However, the authenticity of the coup has come into question, with former president and Arce’s onetime mentor Evo Morales claiming it was staged in a bid to strengthen Arce's position, “Lucho lied and deceived the Bolivian people and the entire world with this kind of coup or self coup,” Morales said in a speech on Sunday, referring to Arce by his nickname.

Arce has rubbished these claims and insists the coup was a genuine attempt to stop his 3-year reign by foreign interests eyeing Bolivia's lithium wealth, echoing Morales’ earlier claims that previous unrest was triggered by U.S. interest in Bolivia’s lithium sector.

“These interests seek our natural resources. Bolivia is the main world reserve of lithium, it also has rare earths that are what the planet needs today,” he said in a recent interview with Spanish newspaper El País.

Unlocking Bolivia’s Vast Lithium Wealth

Bolivia is home to the world’s largest lithium deposits, accounting for 23% of global reserves. The country’s Salar de Uyuni salt flat is the largest of its kind with an estimated 21 million tons of lithium. It, therefore, comes as little surprise that several foreign companies including Germany’s ACI Systems, Russia’s Uranium One Group, China’s EV battery giant CATL and TBEA Group, South Korean steel manufacturer POSCO and French mining multinational Eramet have shown interest in Bolivia's lithium sector. India's battery material producer Altmin is currently working with the Bolivian government to develop the technology of cathode materials for lithium batteries. However, there’s a dearth of concrete evidence linking foreign interests to the country’s political turmoil as Arce has claimed. Rather, technical issues are largely the reason why the South American nation has so far not succeeded in joining Chile and Argentina as one of the world’s lithium heavyweights despite the country being part of the famed Lithium Triangle.

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