The protesters’ demands included:
. The protesters’ demands included:
- The release of Castillo
- New elections
- A national referendum on forming a Constitutional Assembly to replace Peru’s current constitution, which was imposed by former President Alberto Fujimori following his self-imposed coup of 199
EU and US interest in Latin America is rising rapidly as the race
for lithium, copper, cobalt and other elements essential for the
so-called “clean” energy transition heats up. It is a race that China
has been winning pretty handily up until now.
Peru is not only one
of China’s biggest trade partners in Latin America; it is home to the
only port in Latin America that is managed entirely by Chinese
capital. And while Peru may not form part of the Lithium Triangle
(Bolivia, Argentina and Chile), it does boast significant deposits of
the white metal. By one estimate,
it is home to the sixth largest deposits of hard-rock lithium in the
world. It is also the world’s second largest producer of copper, zinc
and silver, three metals that are also expected to play a major role in
supporting renewable energy technologies. Ecuador, is undergoing a major political crisis that is likely to
spell the end of the US-aligned Guillermo Lasso government and a
handover of power to Rafael Correa’s party and its allies.
And the
US government and military have made no secret of their interest in the
mineral deposits that countries like Peru hold in their subsoil. In an address to
the Washington-based Atlantic Council on Jan 19, Gen. Laura Richardson,
head of the U.S. Southern Command, spoke gushingly of Latin America’s
rich deposits of “rare earth elements,” “the lithium triangle —
Argentina, Bolivia, Chile,” the “largest oil reserves [and] light, sweet
crude discovered off Guyana,” Venezuela’s “oil, copper, gold” and the
fact that Latin America is home to “31% of the world’s fresh water in
this region.” ZH
