"URGENT STATEMENT: Weeks before the end of its term, the government attempts to push through disastrous contracts for Bolivian lithium" – July 2, 2025

The government of Luis Arce Catacora is attempting to push through the approval of bills 197/2024-2025 and 170/2024-2025 in the Plurinational Legislative Assembly. These bills aim to authorize contracts with the Chinese company Hong Kong CBC and the Russian company Uranium One Group, within the framework of lithium exploitation.

As representatives of civil society and researchers of Bolivia’s lithium exploitation project, we firmly reject this move and declare a state of alert in response to this attempt to compromise the country’s future during a critical moment of political instability and deep economic crisis. We are just days away from national elections, and such a decision does not fall within the remit of this outgoing government or this legislature.

We reaffirm the concerns expressed in our Public Statement to the Bolivian people from February 2025 and reiterate the following denunciations regarding the contracts…