Bolivia’s Socialist President Talks Lithium, BRICS Membership with Putin

Bolivian socialist President Luis Arce met with his “brother,” Russian strongman Vladimir Putin, in St. Petersburg on Thursday to address “a broad bilateral agenda” that includes Bolivia’s lithium resources and potential membership in the China-led BRICS bloc, currently chaired by Russia.

Arce arrived in Russia for his first official visit to the country this week and is presently conducting a tour that includes, in addition to a meeting with Putin, an appearance at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The socialist president and his delegation are seeking aid for Bolivia’s ailing economy through more trade deals with Moscow.

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Bolivia – under the socialist governments of Arce and his predecessor and now presidential rival Evo Morales — has focused its foreign policy on alliances with China, Russia, and Iran. As a result, experts have described Bolivia as the Islamic regime’s “most successful project” in its decades-long efforts to spread its influence in Latin America. 

The South American nation is home to some of the world’s largest known lithium reserves, estimated by the Bolivian government at 23 million metric tons. Lithium is an indispensable material for the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries and the batteries used in a wide range of devices such as computer laptops and cell phones.

Arce signed a series of contracts last year that collectively amounted to $1.4 billion with China and Russia to build two lithium carbonate processing plants, handing over control of two of the country’s largest lithium deposits to those countries.

Russia has been able to expand its influence in Bolivia through a joint project for the construction of a multipurpose irradiation health center in the Bolivian city of El Alto. Arce, upon receiving the center’s nuclear reactor from Russia in August, stated that the center “is designed to study and develop nuclear applications for scientific and technological purposes.”

Following his Thursday meeting with Putin, Arce published a message on social media describing the Russian strongman as his “brother president,” and stating that their encounter served to advance a “broad bilateral agenda of mutual benefit for our peoples.”

“There are many strategic sectors in which Russia and Bolivia can walk together, such as trade, nuclear, lithium industrialization, financial cooperation, energy, cultural and humanitarian cooperation and international organizations, in addition to the incorporation of Bolivia as a full member of the BRICS group of countries,” Arce said in his social media post.

“We are pleased with the progress achieved in this important visit, in which we also took the opportunity to thank the Bolivian people for their affection and support,” he continued.

https://www.twitter.com/LuchoXBolivia/status/179879412380716238

Arce also stated that Bolivia is interested in expanding its cooperation with Russia and said he was grateful for the existing bilateral projects.

“I appreciate the support from the friendly Russian government, which implemented several projects, such as the Center for nuclear research and technologies,” Arce said. “We also need to implement the project on production of lithium-based batteries in Bolivia with a Russian company; we will also work in other spheres of cooperation between Russia and Bolivia. We have a rich agenda.”

“We are glad to share our experience, our projects and dreams we will be able to implement jointly,” Arce added.

Putin, following his meeting with Arce, described the trade volume between their countries as “small,” but said it had growth potential in the field of high technology and that there are other “interesting” ideas in addition to the nuclear center that Russia is building in El Alto.

“As for bilateral relations between Russia and Bolivia, they are firmly based on mutual interests,” Putin said. “The total volume of trade turnover in monetary terms is still small, but it has a good potential for growth.”

On Friday, Arce formally presented Bolivia’s candidacy to enter the BRICS trade and security bloc during his participation at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. The Bolivian socialist president, who “ratified” his country in the “rightness of the multipolar world,” said that he hopes to be able to join the bloc in the shortest time possible, as it would be “a great opportunity” that would allegedly support the transformations and the industrialization process underway of Bolivia.

“BRICS has great potential for new members to join and, of course, we welcome and support the desire of interested partners to develop contacts on different continents,” Putin reportedly said shortly before Arce’s participation.

Christian K. Caruzo is a Venezuelan writer and documents life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter here.