SUCRE (Kayhan Intl.) -- Bolivia ordered the closure of its embassies in Nicaragua and Iran while also shuttering three federal ministries, with President Jeanine Anez claiming it was a cost-cutting move to free up money to fight the coronavirus.
Former president Evo Morales had established close political and economic ties with the two countries before he stepped down last November following days of violent unrest in what many observers described as a military coup.
"We have nothing against those countries, noble people and brothers whom we respect and who are friends,” Anez said in a televised message in which she announced she would "close the Bolivian embassies in Iran and Nicaragua.”
In addition, she said, the country’s culture and sports ministries would now fall under the education ministry, while the communication ministry will become part of the presidency’s portfolio.
Morales has said that the political "coup” last November was designed to install a leader who will open Bolivia’s lithium reserves to international exploitation.
Morales had been seeking to nationalize the extraction of the country’s lithium reserves, but his tenure was challenged after the U.S.-backed opposition rejected the results of the country’s elections on October 20, 2019.
Morales ultimately resigned on November 10 under pressure from Bolivia’s armed forces and went into exile in Mexico. His forced resignation came only a week after he canceled a massive joint lithium project with a German company.
The United States’ vehicle company Tesla, which uses lithium batteries for its electric cars, saw its stock jump after Morales’ departure.
Estimated at around 900 million tonnes, Bolivia’s reserves are believed to account for 70 percent of the world’s known lithium.
According to a report published by the German carmaker Volkswagen, lithium "will in the near future be one of the most sought-after raw materials on earth”. The report said demand for the mineral "will more than double by 2023” largely due to the car industry.
Did US oust Morales for Bolivia’s lithium reserves?
Analysts speculate that the recent military coup in Bolivia may have been intended to bring the massive Bolivian lithium resources under US control.
Last month, the New York based Bloomberg company also published an article detailing that the "US and Europe fear a lithium supply crunch” as demand for the mineral increases across the world.
Former president Evo Morales had established close political and economic ties with the two countries before he stepped down last November following days of violent unrest in what many observers described as a military coup.
"We have nothing against those countries, noble people and brothers whom we respect and who are friends,” Anez said in a televised message in which she announced she would "close the Bolivian embassies in Iran and Nicaragua.”
In addition, she said, the country’s culture and sports ministries would now fall under the education ministry, while the communication ministry will become part of the presidency’s portfolio.
Morales has said that the political "coup” last November was designed to install a leader who will open Bolivia’s lithium reserves to international exploitation.
Morales had been seeking to nationalize the extraction of the country’s lithium reserves, but his tenure was challenged after the U.S.-backed opposition rejected the results of the country’s elections on October 20, 2019.
Morales ultimately resigned on November 10 under pressure from Bolivia’s armed forces and went into exile in Mexico. His forced resignation came only a week after he canceled a massive joint lithium project with a German company.
The United States’ vehicle company Tesla, which uses lithium batteries for its electric cars, saw its stock jump after Morales’ departure.
Estimated at around 900 million tonnes, Bolivia’s reserves are believed to account for 70 percent of the world’s known lithium.
According to a report published by the German carmaker Volkswagen, lithium "will in the near future be one of the most sought-after raw materials on earth”. The report said demand for the mineral "will more than double by 2023” largely due to the car industry.
Did US oust Morales for Bolivia’s lithium reserves?
Analysts speculate that the recent military coup in Bolivia may have been intended to bring the massive Bolivian lithium resources under US control.
Last month, the New York based Bloomberg company also published an article detailing that the "US and Europe fear a lithium supply crunch” as demand for the mineral increases across the world.
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