Lithium in Latin America. Global demand against socio-environmental damage

The objective of this work is to analyze the situation of lithium in six Latin American countries: Mexico, Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Brazil, as well as the importance of this mineral for the processes of modern energy transition. The relevance of the book stems from the need to situate the process of energy transition and lithium extraction in Latin America from a regional perspective that helps identify the problems and conditions of each country from the viewpoint of local actors, as this work results from the collaboration of a group of experts in analyzing the situation of this mineral.
We consider it essential to understand the short-term productive relevance of this resource for our region, especially in a context of great productive and economic competition at an international level. These aspects far exceed the supposed interest in an energy transition seeking social and environmental well-being.
The document is composed of three sections. It begins with a chapter that analyzes the global situation of energy transition and the role of minerals in this process in the current context in Latin America in light of the global dispute over lithium due to its relative importance. It is necessary to comment on how this situation has led to socio-environmental costs in the nations of the Global South, as they possess a significant amount of the economic resources necessary for this change, although this transition only focuses on paving the way for green capitalism that does not care about socio-environmental impacts and effects but rather about the large profits that extractive companies can obtain from the intensive exploitation of these resources.
Next, the book contains two sections, the first presenting the cases of countries still in the process of lithium exploration (Mexico and Bolivia), and the second addressing those already in exploitation and/or operation (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru). The intention is to show how the path Mexico and Bolivia wish to follow is similar to what has been done by Argentina, Brazil, Chile, and Peru, how they have relaxed their laws, norms, and others to allow the entry of various companies in lithium exploitation; likewise, it is essential to mention and demonstrate through data the environmental, social, and economic consequences this generates. It suffices to observe what has happened in Chile and Argentina regarding the extensive use of water and how this increasingly affects communities; also in the case of Brazil and Peru, various socio-environmental conflicts have arisen due to metallic mining, so it is very likely that this will happen in places where lithium is extracted, as most are indigenous and native communities that have been vulnerable in different ways. The contents of the chapters are mentioned below.
In the first chapter, "The Myth of Energy Transition and the Importance of Lithium," written by Aleida Azamar Alonso, the conceptual and practical aspects that allow identifying the process of energy transition and how it was established in the world as part of a strategy to strengthen productive processes in the face of the threat of energy scarcity are discussed.
Thus, the author reviews global energy consumption models and the distinctions made to ensure North America and Europe's economic and productive competitiveness. Similarly, in this work, the author highlights the vital role that Latin America begins to have in the so-called energy transition, as they have a high amount of lithium deposits in their territories, a material that becomes relevant due to its functional characteristics for the development of long-lasting batteries suitable for vehicles, computers, among others. The text contrasts this issue with the fundamental role of lithium in the dynamic of energy transition proposed by the World Bank for the next 30 years. In the second chapter, "The Supposed Abundance of Lithium in Mexico," prepared by Aleida Azamar Alonso, the industrial processes of lithium extraction in Mexico are analyzed in the framework of the discussion on the nationalization of this material, a topic promoted by the current president of the country. For this, the author conducts a historical review of the use of this resource in Mexico during the present century, the public and private efforts to appropriate it, and the conditions in which activities associated with this mineral are found.
Furthermore, in this chapter, Azamar Alonso addresses the general characteristics of lithium and those that differentiate the deposits found in Mexico, which allows her to study the conditions and scenario of the use of this mineral in the country and the relevance of foreign private actors for its exploitation. Additionally, the Mexican government's media strategy addressing the issue of resource nationalization is discussed, emphasizing the challenges and problems of an extractive project carried out by it.
In the third chapter, "Lithium in Bolivia: Background, Challenges, and Inconsistencies," by Jorge Antonio Campanini Tejerina, an interesting reflection on the challenges and implications of developing a national project for the exploitation and use of lithium in Bolivia is made in the face of the restrictions, technological limitations, and practices imposed by the private sector on this market to limit the development of such projects, reflecting on the inconsistencies in which government management has fallen to carry out this project.
The author presents the chapter's objective as the contextualization of lithium at a global level and, particularly, the path Bolivia has taken to industrialize it. For this, he exposes the global motives regarding the growing demand and its perspectives, to then make a retrospection on the background and processes that Bolivia has faced to develop its project, including the debate on reserves and resources; thus, he explains the risks and events that have marked the advancement of the Bolivian strategy on recent policies, paradigm shifts, and implications around lithium extraction.
In the fourth chapter, "Accumulation by De-fossilization, False Energy Transition Agenda. Twenty-five years of lithium exploitation in Argentina," prepared by the Geopolitics and Common Goods Study Group (GyBC), a detailed analysis of the extractive conditions of lithium in the South of the continent is presented, contrasting with the exploitation process itself in Argentina based on an explanation of how this sector, with 25 years of work in the country, has not had a positive impact on a fair socio-ecological transition; that is, it has not benefited the population.
This chapter aims to reveal the dynamics hidden behind the discourses on promises of sustainable development and fantasies of unimaginable wealth through lithium. For this, the GyBC proposes to establish the category of "accumulation by de-fossilization," a concept collected in the analysis of the country's extractive situation. The existing legal framework and the participation in the global value chain of batteries and their socio-environmental impacts are also discussed.
In the fifth chapter, "Debates and Confrontations: History and Policies of Lithium Exploitation in Brazil" by Elaine Santos, the author makes an interesting historical reflection on the process of using lithium in this country, as well as the conflicts Brazil had with the United States in attempting to strengthen its local capabilities for the transformation of this resource and obtain products with more excellent added value. Additionally, the industrial situation of this resource in Brazil is updated to the present, and its relevance for the future is also mentioned. This chapter aims to debate how Brazil and the industries exploiting lithium in the region of Minas Gerais develop their strategies in a chain driven by the increase in lithium consumption for batteries, also mentioning the impacts of this exploitation on the communities in the region. The author collected part of the information through interviews with some actors leading the public debate on this topic in the State of Minas Gerais.
In the sixth chapter, "Lithium Mining in the Salar de Atacama: Extractivism and Dispossession in the Name of a Distant Transition" by Ramón Balcázar Morales, the author describes the context of lithium mining already consolidated in Chile for decades, in a scenario of political tension due to the election of the new president, who has openly discussed the possibility of modifying the mining regime in favor of a higher level of social justice, all in the environment of a new international tender for a large deposit in a territory marked by conflict with local indigenous communities. The author aims to contribute to the understanding of the conditions explaining the expansion of lithium extractivist in the Salar de Atacama in a global crisis context marked by climate change and the growing questions posed by Indigenous organizations, socio-environmental movements, academics, and politicians. To do this, the work focuses on the tender of 400,000 tons of this mineral, undertaken by the outgoing government of Sebastián Piñera, addressing the historical progress of lithium mining in the country and the negative socio-environmental effects it has had on the population.
In the seventh chapter, "Lithium in Peru: Promises of Abundance" by Fabiola Escárzaga and Roxana Loarte Villalobos, the characteristics of the lithium deposits in the Puno Region are analyzed, as well as the political strategies of local governments to promote these mining projects based on promises of industrialization and wealth despite being in the hands of foreign companies under a productive regime that allows them to minimize their social investment to the maximum, generating socio-environmental conflicts. To do this, the authors analyze the difficulties presented in Peru to concretize technical, political, and social lithium exploitation. Thus, they first address mining legislation and the policies established by neoliberal governments in favor of large foreign-owned mining, initiated in the 1990s and still in force. They also discuss the characteristics of the deposits in the country and how they differ from the rest of the region due to the content of uranium in combination with lithium, complicating the process.

To conclude this introduction, it is worth mentioning that we believe this book will serve as a turning point to spark greater debates and questions about how we conceive lithium and the supposed energy transition, who uses this resource, where it is found, what it is used for now and in the near future, who benefits from this mineral, how necessary and important it is for populations, what impacts its extraction and/or exploitation is leaving in different regions, and what role states play with the various policies and/or legislative proposals they have developed over the past decades on this issue. Therefore, we invite you to read this work, to reflect and question with various elements what is happening in our America.

Finally, it only remains to thank the great work, dedication, and collaboration of all the authors from different parts of Latin America who participated in this book, as well as the trust in this project by the Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) and the Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana, Xochimilco Unit (UAM-X).