Dustrialization of batteries for automotive plants is concentrated in Chinese companies, and control of extraction is also dominated by a few companies: the American Albemarle, the Chilean sqm, the North American Livent Corp, Orocobre from Australia and Ganfeng from China14. In turn, Chile and Argentina export lithium carbonate, a commodity with no added value, and beyond the recurring announcements about "industrialization", the countries of the so-called "lithium triangle" are far from controlling the global chain of lithium. ore, from the salt flats to the batteries.
In numerous cases, lithium extraction proceeds without a social license, agreement or consultation with the indigenous communities that have inhabited those territories for thousands of years and that denounce the overconsumption of water and its impacts on the India Email List process. In the Salinas Grandes in Jujuy, Argentina, since 2010, a group of indigenous communities (called "the 33 communities") rejects the extraction of lithium in their territories, demands prior, free and informed consultation and defends a holistic and ancestral perspective, that integrates the territory, autonomy, Good Living, plurinationality, water and the sustainability of life.
The salt flat is considered by the indigenous people as "a living being, a giver of life", and they have as their motto "Water and life are worth more than lithium", as could be seen reflected in the Aerocene Pacha,fifteen.Thirdly, the constant search to expand the capitalist frontiers supposes, in all these cases, the promotion of mega-projects aimed at the control, extraction and export of natural goods. And for this there is a clear commitment to guarantee "legal security" to the capital with regulatory and legal bases that make possible the greatest business profitability.