The Theft of Bolivia's Lithium

"We will coup whoever we want! Deal with it." - Elon Musk



A brief recap. Evo Morales served as Bolivia's elected President since 2006. During his tenure, he nationalized key industries and used aggressive social spending to reduce extreme poverty by more than half, modernized the country's infrastructure, and lowered income inequality by 19 percent.

Bolivia's Remarkable Socialist Success Story

Morales' populist agenda angered Bolivia's hard-right elite and business sector, as well as the United States. In October 2019, the Organization of American States (OAS) released a report accusing Morales of election fraud. The Bolivian army seized on the report and used it as a pretext to force Morales out of office. But it was the OAS report, not Morales' reelection, that was fraudulent, as several academic studies would later reveal.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/poli...t-our-research-found-no-reason-suspect-fraud/

Morales' real crime, like so many before him, was that he redistributed his country's natural resource wealth to the people. As the State Department noted in a Congressional Budget Justification for FY 2018, the OAS "promotes U.S. political and economic interests in the Western Hemisphere by countering the influence of anti-U.S. countries."

So here is Tesla CEO Elon Musk:

Elon Musk Confesses to Lithium Coup in Bolivia

 

What's your point ?

 

You don't have the full story. Morales was a less than competent, vain, somewhat power-hungry guy. And the high middle class in Bolivia's capital city had good reason to want to see him removed. He played ethnic politics too. His election was almost as much about indigenous brown people versus people of Spanish descent as it was about economics.

Of course all the Leftist governments in Latin America praise him.

He also built a gaudy new incredibly costly government skyscraper building, with a palace for himself at the very top. Wealthy residents living in the surrounding area complained it ruined the old city's skyline. The building was excessive, in more ways than one, and probably not something the country could afford.

 

Musk is just being Musk. He wouldn't be saying that if he could really do it.

 

Nothing you just said legitimizes the military coup. Stop apologizing for imperialism. Bolivia is right wing dictatorship now.

 

Back when it was happening, I saw a short video of the take off from a small town of the helicopter carrying Morales. The machine had been somehow sabotaged, and the pilot had to abort the takeoff. He did a great job, saving the machine and its passengers.

The US overthrows legitimate governments frequently, and some fall more easily than others.

The US government is NOT a force for good in this world.

 

Yeah, kind of the way the twin towers ruined the New York City skyline. Laws were put in afterwards about what skyscrapers should look like, but it was too late. There was no way to get rid of those ugly buildings and restore our beautiful skyline until 9/11. Who knows, maybe they can fly some planes into Bolivia's gaudy skyscraper? Just a suggestion!

On a serious note, what's wrong with raising the standard of living of the poor in Bolivia? For that matter, what's wrong with raising the standard of living of the poor in any country, whether they're in S. America, Africa, Asia or the US.

I know, I know, they have too many children, and the planet will not be able to feed them. You're right, there won't be enough food, and the world population is too high, but there is a humane way to solve it. Notice how Europe's overpopulation solved itself once their standard of living was raised. Now they have the reverse problem, not enough people.

Well, what if we didn't steal the resources of other nations? What if we had raised their standard of living so they wouldn't want so many children? Not that it matters now anyway, there's going to be a major war - and who knows what else?

 

You're telling me. A few years back, a very holy person said that the US was under satan. Well, we've seen his destructive influence in the lies and hypocrisy to overthrow a duly elected President, and we have seen it in the world with our regime changes, wars and the chaos we cause.

What a sad testimony to the renowned integrity and brilliance of our Founding Fathers, who had created this country, and gave it its monumental Constitution.

​

 

I think that's clearly more than a bit of exaggeration.

Those responsible for ousting Morales may have used some dirty slightly underhanded tactics and have been a little bit corrupt, but not necessarily clearly more so than Morales himself.

 

Massacres are just "slightly underhanded." Pretty ghoulish of you. Repeating CIA talking points and apologizing for fascism and imperialism.

Jeanine Añez must repeal decree giving impunity to Bolivia's Armed Forces

 

Overthrowing legitimately elected leaders and governments is illegal.

He was left wing by any standard, improving the conditions for the people.

Those who overthrew him are right wing, improving the profits of corporations.

 

He claimed it was a joke. However we know that most of what the US gets up to when it is telling its citizens it is for humanitarian reasons is for US profit. Given that you are now run by Corporate Power/Oligarchs which both of your parties answer to, it does not sound strange that Musk would get what he wants - Novara Media thought maybe he was on drugs. I suspect alcohol would be more the sort of thing to make him let the cat out of the bag. He may have as he said been making a joke but it is too near reality to be funny.

 

Eccentric billionaires make poor comedians, they can hire good writers but have no improv skills

 

Well I didn't have the opportunity to watch the Novara video this morning so thought I would now. I can remember now hearing a lot about this in December.

So the situation is he was not going to allow the US access to his Lithium - you can see that near the beginning of the video I will leave. So we have motivation. The US/Musk believes this country has something it wants/needs and is not intending on giving. By the way I was hearing the other day that his cars are having a rediculous amount of money put into them on the stock exchange. The guy I was listening to said he did not know why but it was way above what they are worth. (There is apparent playing around with your Stock Exchange - I think it is your government putting the money in which you all will eventually have to pay- even though it makes no money for you.)

So if we go back to the election which was spoken of. Even the New York Times had the decency to admit later that it looked like the situation was not as they had previously said. That the election was fair. This man is indiginous and so are most of the people in Bolivia and he had made the country much better having been President. Many of his votes were from out of the way which likely were not collected in any polls. Now the person who they put in as a 'stand in' President got only 4% of the votes and is still there!

Here is how The Washington Post describes his time in office.

from video

Whats not to like about that unless you are wanting their Lithium?

If as is said in the video, he is in regular contact with the Trump and given that it is the norm for the US to change the Government of Central American Countries in order to get their resources, I suspect Musk was just angry and pretending he was pretending - or maybe he was not told, but that, with the money being thrown by the Government at his car business in the Stock Market suggests that was the reason.

I haven't been following this. If they have got started on the massacres already well so typical of what the US, under both parties does in Central America to keep its position as the richest country in the world. It disgusts.

 

Odd that Bolivia is even mentioned when there's a proposed mine that could supply the entire US demand for lithium through 2068 or longer.
It's in Nevada, just down the road from the Tesla battery factory.
https://cleantechnica.com/2020/05/13/nevadas-lithium-valley/

 

My reading of your article would suggest it is not actually accurate to say proposed. That would suggest that the lithium was actually there. The article says it could be there so it could only be proposed to use it if it actually was there..

My search produced the same article with an

https://insideevs.com/news/419466/tesla-nevada-lithium-supply-potential/ [/quote]

That was in May this year and does not necessarily mean that ideas which have been expressed here are real. It may just as easily be a camoflage.

 

A letter from the coup regime’s Foreign Minister Karen Longaric to Elon Musk, dated march 31st, says "any corporation that you or your company can provide to our country will be gratefully welcomed."

 

Its a fact that corporations run our govt. Only their interests matter. We look like oligarchy. Real deal fascism. And powerful.

But its confused with capitalism.

 

It's the logical end of capitalism. Money is political power. When Obama left the White House he was rewarded by the ruling class for his services.

Lucas: Obama wastes no time cashing in on presidency

Barack Obama to make $1.2m from three Wall Street speeches | The Independent

Obamas buy Martha's Vineyard mansion for $11.75 million - Chicago Tribune

 

WTF, he was PRESIDENT after all. He only saved us from the 2nd Great Depression.

Is NOBODY to have some really nice digs. We all get an efficiency one room with our br in the kitchen and the water closet is the only thing behind a door, is that what you want?

Meanwhile The Man of Bronze has gold toilets and you guys just orgasm all over the board.

 

Hmmmmm... Are you upset about Musk supplying ventilators?

 

Amazing. Is this a joke?

Even if it isn't; that IS an ongoing situation worldwide

This disease is poised to kill ALL of us, and we're going on about the Football Season being truncated?

What is the Fracking WRONG with us, are we ALL crazy?

 

I don't believe it is the logical end to capitalism..For we have had two forms of capitalism in my 76 years of life. One form created history's largest middle class here post ww2. The other form that appeared again in the 80s has disembowelled Americans, working people.

Only regulated capitalism creates a large middle. Regulated to provide for non elites for naturally the elites want most of the pie. FDR told his rich peers they could not have it all. That accepting a reasonable profit saves capitalism. Then by the 80s the only importance is to max profits and if you destroy the middle then so be it.

No responsibility to communities, none to this country and none to employees. Where in the past increases in worker productivity was shared with workers , this came to an end and went to only the top. And paying employees enough to live on went away! Morality and capitalism were mutually exclusive. Oil and water. The Walmart model of using taxpayer funded welfare to subsidize wages took over as income disparity exploded to surpass that of the gilded age that crashed in 29.

 

The New Deal taught us that reforms will be undone. The ruling class got its vengeance. The organized Left was disarticulated. The top marginal tax rate went from 94% to 24%. Key regulations were rolled back, including Glass-Steagall. Medicare was weakened. Both parties want to privatize Social Security and Medicare. Welfare was gutted. We never got single-payer. No more jobs program. US imperialism increased. It's only going to get worse as long as private tyrannies exist.

The only solution is for people to control their own lives, their own work.