If you are going to have someone with a lithium resource pivot your way, Bolivia is a pretty good one.
From Fox via Yahoo, December 13:
EXCLUSIVE: After decades of strained relations, Bolivia is seeking a new partnership with the U.S. as it repositions itself in the region and works to reduce its dependence on China.
The country’s pro-business conservative President, Rodrigo Paz, was sworn in last month and made quick work of pivoting his country away from alliances with China and Venezuela and toward Western nations.
Foreign Minister Fernando Aramayo spoke with Fox News Digital as he visited Washington this week to sign an agreement reestablishing diplomatic ties with Israel, which had been cut off during the war in Gaza by the previous government.
"We are looking for a long-term relationship with U.S., relations based on the same values and interests that we share, for democracy and to create a new alliance in South America," Aramayo said.
Paz's victory followed the unraveling of nearly two decades of leftist rule under Evo Morales and Luis Arce, whose MAS party fractured amid economic crises, corruption scandals and mounting public anger over alleged narcotrafficking networks embedded in the state. The collapse of that political machine opened the door for a conservative, pro-business candidate — a dramatic turn for a country that had been one of China and Venezuela’s closest ideological allies in the region.
Aramayo said his nation would institute new laws and regulations to attract U.S. investment and break up China’s "monopoly" on mining its natural resources, particularly lithium.
The "U.S. has a lot of technology and has a lot of experience and sustainable extraction of resources," Aramayo said. "We want to take advantage of that. Of course, we want to receive some technology transfers and to be part of the whole chain of production."
Aramayo said he "of course" shares U.S. concerns that China uses its investments in Latin America to extract leverage. "We want to diversify our portfolio, and we want serious investors."....
....MUCH MORE
In late October 2025 Reuters was publishing: "Bolivia's new president rekindles cautious hope for long-stalled lithium dreams"
Oct 21 (Reuters) - Bolivia's election of centrist Rodrigo Paz is raising cautious hopes that a more market-friendly leader could pave the way for international investment in the country's ample lithium reserves after years of false starts under two decades of socialist rule.Bolivia holds the world's largest resources of the ultralight metal used in electric vehicle batteries, but development has been hamstrung by political opposition and a law mandating state control of the sector that has chilled broad investor interest.....
We've been posting on Bolivian lithium for a very long time, often using as an introduction a line written by William Goldman:
Butch Cassidy: Kid, the next time I say, "Let's go someplace like Bolivia,"
let's go someplace like Bolivia.
—Butch Cassidy & the Sundance Kid (1969)
That was the intro to February 2009's "Lithium: In Bolivia, Untapped Bounty Meets Nationalism".
Among the outro links:
For the last three years China has been wooing Mr. Morales:
Jan. 2006-
Latin America Drifts East -- Evo Morales Stakes Bolivia's Future on China
Chinese president calls for stronger China-Bolivia links
Bolivia seeks Chinese investment
April 2007-
China, Bolivia vow to enhance military exchanges
Jan. 2008-
China-Bolivia Culture Week kicks off in La Paz
And so on. China isn't leaving everything in Evo's hands though.
One of the reasons China has done the nasty on Tibet is lithium:
It Is Expected That China's Lithium Carbonate Output Will Amount to 45,000 Tons and...
Tibet is No.1 lithium producer in the world
The karma of lithium ion batteries: how Tibet plays a role in green car technology
Some of our prior posts on Bolivian lithium:
Lithium-Ion Batteries and Bolivian Politics
Electric Vehicles-Lithium Supplies and Crucifixion in Bolivia
Mining lithium from geothermal 'lemonade'. And: Batteries That Don't Blow Up
