US senators Ted Cruz (R-TX), Bob Menéndez (D-NJ) and Dick Durbin (D-IL) have introduced a resolution calling on Bolivia's President Evo Morales not to stand for re-election this October. Cruz said Bolivia is going in a "very dangerous direction, aligning itself with illegal and illegitimate regimes, including that of [Nicolás] Maduro in Venezuela. It is important that all parties respect the constitution of Bolivia, which includes term limits." (Peru21 [9], Feb. 1) Bolivia saw a wave of strikes and protests [10] after a December ruling by the country's Supreme Electoral Tribunal allowing Morales to run for a fourth consecutive term in the 2019 election.
The resolution comes just as Bolivia has announced a new partnership with Chinese company Xinjiang TBEA Group [11] to exploit the country's valuable and largely untapped lithium deposits. TBEA will be a 49% partner in the project, in association with another Chinese firm, America Baocheng Development, and the state company Bolivian Lithium Deposits (YLB [12]). The agreement covers sites in the Coipasa salt flats of Oruro department and the Pastos Grandes salt flats of Potosí. (Prensa Latina [13], Reuters [14])
China has for years been seeking deals to exploit Bolivia's strategic lithium [15] reserves, part of what some have called a global design by Beijing to establish a "stranglehold [16]" on the planet's rare earth minerals.
