Bolivia's Lithium Ambitions Face Economic and Environmental Headwinds

Bolivia is making a play to become a major global lithium producer by partnering with Russian and Chinese firms – but who has the better end of the deal? Increasingly vocal opposition groups comprising lawyers as well as constituents argue that the nation’s most recent deals with Russia and China, currently pending congressional review, are a sweetheart deal for the international firms and, therefore, a raw deal for Bolivia. But backers of the developments argue that these steps are both prudent and necessary to develop Bolivian lithium…