By Aurora Lane | 2025-06-06

LA PAZ -- Indigenous communities in southern Bolivia have blocked two lithium extraction deals with Russian and Chinese companies, denouncing the Bolivian state for bypassing their constitutional right to prior, free and informed consultation.

On May 27, a local court in Colcha K, in the highland region of Nor Lípez, ordered the immediate suspension of two bills that would authorize contracts between Bolivia's state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and the Russian firm Uranium One Group, as well as the Chinese consortium CBC.

The ruling followed a legal challenge filed by the Central Única Provincial de Comunidades Originarias de Nor Lípez (CUPCONL), a regional Indigenous organization.

The court issued two precautionary measures. First, it halted legislative proceedings on bills 170 and 197, which are meant to greenlight the international partnerships. Second, it ordered YLB and the Ministry of Hydrocarbons to refrain from initiating any work or administrative processes tied to the deals until Bolivia guarantees full compliance with environmental regulations, human rights standards and Indigenous protections.

"This is about more than contracts; it's about survival," Fátima Monasterios, a lawyer representing the affected communities, told Entorno. "The projects began without consultation, without proper environmental studies and with total disregard for the rights of the people who live there."

Government officials pushed back. Álvaro Arnez, Bolivia's vice minister for Alternative Energies, said in late May that neither his office nor YLB had received formal notification of the court order.

The contracts have no legal effect until approved by the Plurinational Legislative Assembly, and preliminary work by the companies was carried out under valid agreements and with environmental licenses issued by authorities, he said.

Community engagement already has taken place, he said, adding that during the industrial phase, the state would honor its obligation to conduct prior consultations in line with both domestic and international law.

Too little, too late

"We've already seen wells drilled, springs drying up and our llamas migrating for lack of water," CUPCONL Secretary-General Iván Calcina, who asserted that YLB had been officially notified of the court's ruling, told Entorno. "We want the contracts suspended until they respect our right to be consulted and until a full environmental impact study is completed."

The incursion by foreign companies is happening without transparency or consent, Gustavo López Quispe, another CUPCONL leader, told Entorno.

"We can't back down," he said. "This fight is about water, it's about our land, and it's about our children's future. If we lose that, we lose everything."

Although the contracts have not yet been ratified by parliament, residents report that companies have already begun operating in the region. Drilling rigs have appeared at multiple sites in northern Nor Lípez, a Territorio Comunitario de Origen near the Uyuni salt flats, home to one of the world's largest untapped lithium reserves.

Calcina said Russian company staff had been spotted in the area. "We don't even know what they're doing. And that shouldn't be happening without prior consultation or environmental assessments."

A strategic resource, an absent legal framework

Despite holding vast lithium reserves, Bolivia still lacks a comprehensive legal framework to regulate extraction of its evaporitic resources, a gap that leaves local communities vulnerable to ad hoc deals with little oversight.

"In Bolivia, lithium is being negotiated contract by contract," Monasterios said. "There's no public policy that sets clear standards for human rights, collective rights or the rights of nature. The state is operating without a roadmap."

Communities fear that lithium mining will come at the cost of their traditional livelihoods. In Nor Lípez, where most residents rely on quinoa farming, llama herding and community-based tourism, access to water has already become a pressing issue.

"From my community, Puerto Chuvica, we are already experiencing water shortages," said López. "If this is just the beginning, how much worse will it get?"

Judicial hearings in the coming weeks will determine whether the contracts remain suspended until authorities meet all legal and constitutional requirements. For now, Indigenous leaders remain in a declared state of emergency.

Their message to the state is clear: no lithium without consultation, no development without Indigenous consent.