Bolivian Socialist President Luis Arce met with “brother” Russian strongman Vladimir Putin in St. Petersburg on Thursday to discuss a “broad bilateral agenda” including Bolivia’s lithium resources and possible membership in the China-led BRICS bloc, currently chaired by Russia.
Arce arrived this week for his first official visit to Russia and is currently trip This will include meetings with Putin as well as an attendance at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, where the socialist president and his delegation are seeking to support Bolivia’s struggling economy through further trade deals with Moscow.
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Under the socialist governments of President Arce and his predecessor, current presidential candidate Evo Morales, Bolivia has focused its foreign policy on allying itself with China, Russia and Iran. As a result, experts say Explained Bolivia is “the most successful project” in the decades-long efforts of Islamic regimes to expand their influence in Latin America.
This South American country boasts some of the world’s largest lithium reserves. Estimation The Bolivian government is importing 23 million tonnes of lithium, a material essential for making batteries for electric cars and a wide range of devices including laptops and mobile phones.
Arce Signed Last year, it signed a series of deals with China and Russia worth a total of $1.4 billion, handing them control of two of the country’s largest lithium deposits by building two lithium carbonate processing plants.
Carlos Ramos Mamani (right), president of YLB, and Xie Yunrong, legal representative of China’s CITIC Guoan Group, sign an agreement for the industrialization of lithium in La Paz on June 29, 2023. (AIZAR RALDES/AFP via Getty Images)
Russia has been able to expand its influence in Bolivia through a joint project to build a multipurpose radiological health center in the Bolivian city of El Alto. After receiving the center’s nuclear reactor from Russia in August, President Arce said: stated The centre is “aimed at researching and developing nuclear applications for scientific and technological purposes”.
Arce posted a message on social media after his meeting with Putin on Thursday, calling the Russian strongman a “brother president” and saying the meeting helped advance “a broad bilateral agenda of mutual interest for our two peoples.”
“In addition to Bolivia becoming a full member of the BRICS countries, there are many strategic areas in which Russia and Bolivia can work together, including trade, nuclear power, lithium industrialization, financial cooperation, energy, cultural and humanitarian cooperation, and international organizations,” Arce said in a social media post.
“We are pleased with the progress achieved during this important visit, which also gave us the opportunity to thank the Bolivian people for their love and support,” he continued.
https://www.twitter.com/LuchoXBolivia/status/179879412380716238
Arce too stated He said Bolivia is interested in expanding cooperation with Russia and appreciates existing bilateral projects.
“We appreciate the support of the friendly Russian government, with which we have implemented several projects, such as the Nuclear Research and Technology Center,” Arce said. “We also need to implement a project with Russian companies to produce lithium-based batteries in Bolivia. We will also work in other areas of Russian-Bolivian cooperation. We have rich plans.”
“We are happy to share our experiences, our projects and the dreams we can realize together,” Arce added.
After his meeting with President Arce, President Putin Explained While he described the volume of trade between the two countries as “small,” he said there was potential for growth in high-tech and that Russia had “interesting” ideas beyond the nuclear center it is building in El Alto.
“Bilateral relations between Russia and Bolivia are firmly built on the basis of mutual interests,” Putin said. “The total trade volume in value terms is still small, but there is good potential for growth.”
On Friday, Arce officially Presented The Bolivian president, who participated in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, declared his country a candidate to join the BRICS trade and security bloc. The socialist president of Bolivia, who “acknowledged” the “correctness of the multipolar world” for his country, said he hopes to join as soon as possible, as it would be a “great opportunity” to support the transformation and industrialization process underway in Bolivia.
“BRICS has great potential for new members to join, and of course we welcome and support the desire of interested partners to build connections on different continents,” Putin was quoted as saying shortly before Arce joined.
Christian K. Caruso is a Venezuelan author documenting life under socialism. You can follow him on Twitter. here.
