The Colla indigenous peoples of Pai Ote and other organisations, opposition parliamentarians spoke out about the inappropriateness of this measure and filed a writ of amparo, which was granted by a court in Copiapó. The outgoing government will insist on its arguments.

Chile: Legal disputes over outgoing government's decision to award part of lithium extraction to Chinese company BYD and Chile's Servicios y Operaciones Mineras del Norte

The main lithium companies in the Chilean salt lakes of the Atacama Desert are SQM that used to be a state-owned company but during the Pinochet dictatorship was privatised, with Pinochet’s son-in law as president of the company board. The other company is US based Albemarle. Both companies have been accused of exhausting the scarce water resources in the driest desert of the world. But there are also other lithium reserves in the area and despite of indigenous peoples’ concerns about the loss of their livelihoods, particularly related to tourism and camelids herding, the right-wing Chilean government that will finish its term this year, has prompted concessions to these two companies: BYD from China and Services and Mining Operations (Servicios y Operaciones mineras del Norte), from Chile.