In other words, who owns the rare earth elements has the control of today and future. China. China owns approximately 90 of the rare earth metals and is the Largest Global producer. This fact has turned into a certain conflict between the us and china. The us is desperately seeking to resolve the issue of rare earths in order to compete with china and avoid being defeated. So the us started to put into operation rare earth mine that it had abandoned its own territory. The us has also placed mines in spain which is a nato member. The entry of. Finland and sweden into nato suspiciously coincides with the beginning of the exploitation of Rare Earth Minerals in those countries. The United States on resolving its lack of rare earths in latin america. The us is also looking for a way to activate mining tailings to dominate them in chile, because chile holds countless. Extracted that are shipped abroad, unprocessed for free, that is of great importance, because it is assumed that in five years the need for earths in advanced industry, especially military will increase 30 times, Laura Richardson said latin america and fundamentally south america, are places with great reses that must be at us service. She has named 50 minerals as strategic and important for the National Security of United States. Thats why each latin American Country is fighting this strategy in a way. Bolivia is producing batteries and cars using its lithium. Chile sells lithium to canadian and European Union companies. Mexico nationalizes and industrializes lithium, each country has different attitudes and has to confront the Transnational Companies that are fundamentally under the direction of the United States. Natural resources are the keystones for latin american countries in case of identity. Rar earth elements are found throughout the world, but in few places are they found. Of hoy estamos con fernando estensoro today i talk to fernando estensoro, he is a scholar and specialist in International Issues from the university of sandiago, chile. Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. Bien, fernando. Well, the fight over ownership of minerals is terrible issue, we have long experience in this case, for instance in chile, their struggle was over assalt peter that initiated a war among chile, peru and bolivia. Today there is a fresh topic over rare earths. There are 17 of them which are mostly filled with lithium. These Natural Resources are at the center of the dispute. Why are these minerals important . Theres actually a certain among countries over Natural Resources, especially china versus the us. What the consequences of such struggle in countries that embrace these natural reserves . China controls about 90 of these rare earths on the international market, however the us needs these Natural Resources very urgently, so the us is looking for them in different parts, they are looking for minerals in mining wastes. The us takes the copper as well. Sweden and finland, spain and the u. S. Are reactivating some of the mining centers, and the us is in desperation. Bueno, como tu dices, Las Consecuencias pueden ser muy serias. Consequences in latin america. I particularly believe that we are about to experience hard times from now on. Why do i mention this point . Because when you talk about rare earth, theres a real struggle over minerals and energy as well. Its been a crucial issue to the germanic powers. The 20th century was the age of. Oil, what happened to those countries with great oil reserves like the middle eastern one . They actually lived difficult moments, why . Because the first world countries were the ones that demanded oil during the 20th century. They were developed in capitalist countries that were highly industrialized. Were the major or consumers . Clear, because once bush said america is admit to oil. There is a strategic fight over Energy Resource for the great powers and this way. They built their economic and imperial powers. In the past, they used to reach carbon, and then the age of oil emerged during the 20th century. Now we face Climate Change and environmental crisis, so there is a need to produce clean energy, fossil fuels include col, natural gas and oil. We also witnessed the emission of carbon dioxides and other Greenhouse Gases, so theres a need to overcome the main problems of greenhouse effect. Now im talking. About anthropogenic plutins because Greenhouse Gases are emitted by human activities, the us imperialist had germany blames human beings for anthropogenic pollution, but the reality is different, these capitalist highly developed and industrialized countries are the sources of anthropogenic pollution, but they blame all of us for such phenomena, so we need to avoid using this polluting fossil fuel and choose the one that is not emiting house gas, for instance, Electrical Energy and electric cars, so there are minerals becoming fundamental, and one of them is lithium, it doesnt seem strange because it is relatively abundant, theres also copper and series of minerals that are found in rarer earth, because they are scares, these Mineral Resources are very important, in case of microchips and other technological circuits, so these minerals are essential for the new industrial and technological production of great powers and particularly for the us, the us is trying to maintain its hegemany because it is threatened by emerging countries como china, Laura Richardson, richardson, the former commanding general of the United States army north, stated that there were Strategic Resources that were part of the National Security of the United States. She mentioned lithium, copper, waters and etc. Right now the us has 50 minerals considered strategic that are part of its National Security. What do you think about this point . Como es eso, porque Estados Unidos considera que el planeta es su seguridad nacional. The entire planet to be part of its National Security. Theyve been studing the ways to take Natural Resources from all around the world since second world war. So thats why theyve been focusing on environmentalism and ecologism. The us had realized that the Natural Resources were exhaustible, even before 1972 un conference on the human environment, they realized that they were consuming more and more of these resources, they were worried that the third world countries were becoming greater in population and wanted to become industrialized, so there was a competition over the necessary Natural Resources, as a result, they launched this huge project with help of great Power Centers in. So they began discuss about how they could manage and control the Natural Resources as oil. Theyve been studying about this issue for about 70 years. As far as we are concerned, these Natural Resources have become a scarce because the consumption has increased. These Natural Resources are very important and strategic. The us can sustain its industrial and Technological Developments using the same Natural Resources. The problem is that whatever they need such as Rare Minerals and special lithium are found in south africa. Lets have a break and then we will continue our talk. Fernando, and you mentioned, there were numerous cous induced by hegemon powers like the us and western europe, in the world and especially in latin america, they carried out these to have access to these Natural Resources, the 1973 was linked to nationalization of large permines. Weve already talked about the. On the other hand, we witness people who faught for their sovereignty to take advantage of their own Natural Resources, these are actually just words. I have to say that were living complicated moments right now, the unity of latin american. Is fundamental in todays world, what is important in case of arab countries, it better to ask was so important countries in the past, yes, the answer is oil, these were countries with the Largest Oil Reserves in the world, the great capitalist powers of the global north needed the oil, so thats why we see invasions there, the reason for such heinous acts is non at all, there is chaos in middle Eastern Countries such as iraq and syria, what is the reason because there are Large Oil Reserves . The imperialist countries maintain their powers based on economic structure and the energy is crucial aspect. These Energy Sources develop their milit power. We actually mentioned Climate Change, so rare earth is lithium and a group of minerals are very important to continue maintaining the cycle of accumulation of the capitalist process and great imperialist powers. What does the us need . It doesnt like to lose its fight over. These Natural Resources, what is the serious problem in this case . Youre right, there are wars over Natural Resources, human beings cant live without them, were talking about the latin america in general, from mexico to patagonia in argentina, there are 600 million inhabitants in these parts, there are 500 million inhabitants in south america, were not five or six of the worlds population, but we live in a tremendous territory. That is rich in biodiversity in the amazon, in lithium, and water, and rare earters. I mean that we have whatever the global north needs to continue maintaining its germanic power. The us initiates conflicts against the new powers that are joining this world of superpowers, such as china, india and all of asia. All of the Asian Countries are industrializing and developing, so theres an intense and aggressive competition over these. Natural resources that are essential in case of High Technology and military car. In this scenario, not only individual countries such as chile or in danger, but the whole region is threatened. Were no longer talking about cous in certain countries, we can actually become the ground of operations of the wars the great powers that exist in the centry due to our access to all these resources el acceso a recursos que Nosotros Tenemos y que todos necesitan. Hoy tenemos not in Hightech Industries like microchips, the investments are related to copper, lithium and gold. The us has activities equator, the equirian president o is completed in this case, unfortunately. Marines are stationed at the chilean military base in kokon. Chile had an experience of the us presence in history, only the former rightwing chilean president jorge alessandra accepted to have the us military bases. Why do i mention this point . Why does it happen . Because the us is developing this environmental geopolitics. Why is us deploy troops in this region . Because the struggle for these resources is becoming more and more acute and intense. The us not only takes advantage of these Natural Resources, but has an eye on the same strategic ecosystem such as the amazon. The us Southern Command and armed forces are deployed. In the region, the us no longer intervens in domatic or political ways, they just send troops, thats why the army general Laura Richardson, the commander of the us Southern Command, is present in our region, she is here to say that latin america belongs to the us, and the chinese shouldnt be here anymore. I have emphasize this point that americans are very worried, they have been studying about this topic many years and it is crucial to them, theyve been talking about this issue for a long time. The us has realized that latin america and south america are fundamental for them and are their areas of direct influence, so they decided to drive the chinese out from this region. Of course, china has no intention of leaving latin america, for instance, in case of chile, there is a conflict between chinese and American Companies over lithium. The same struggle is happening in argentina and bolivia as well. We as Latin Americans do not care who are. Residents are the latin american geographical territories are very important, these rich territories are essential for huge powers to be able to sustain themselves, so they would a step in our region to exploit our Natural Resources. If latin american countries are united, they can end this story in their favor, and if it doesnt happen, we still be the losers and become a single region that is not called the global south anymore. In this case, latin american. Countries will stand next to african president , countries because the asian nations are developing, latin american countries are going to be dependent como paises dependientes perif, hay una cosa asi fernando, yo yo por ejemplo creo que i believe that governments are very important in this case, for instance, the mexican Andres Manuel lopez, abrador nationalized mexicos lithium reserves which were under a us. Rule. Mexico is not a major lithium producer and we are all aware of that. Bolivia is industrializing its lithium in batteries or cars. The chilean president , foreign minister and ambassador to the us have said the chiles Strategic Partners are the us, canada and european countries. Theyre actually opposing the chinese in this case. Chile actually delivers these Natural Resources to other countries without elaboration process. Elaboracion sin nada, no, sin duda, yo me, yo te digo, obviamente, Los Gobiernos son fundamentales, no es lo mismo, the governments are key players here, there are different types of governments like the national one and many others, we cant actually compare salvador with pinoche, i think that the situation is tense and complicated, the chilean ambassador to the United States issued a statement saying that chile was a strategic ally of the United States. And this very moment, the Chinese Ambassador told him, listen, thats very strange, so the chilean ambassador had to inform his suportant, then he came back and said chile also shares strategic ties with china. I think that we have to be pragmatic in this case, why . Because the situations of the governments of latin america are different. Chile is in touch with the us due to neoliberalism, but theres also serious debate in chile, there may be a certain. Type of chilean government that wants to maintain ties with the us, and it doesnt mean that all chilans are happy with that. Theres a very important debate over lithium, the chilean dictatorship nationalized lithium, because it was a strategic natural resource. Private companies are actually exploiting lithium in chile. China has become a very important ally for latin american countries in the free market. China has control of the supply of lithium batteries and other products as well, the Chilean Communist Party and important businessmen are negotiating with the chinese. So theres a real conflict in this case, theres a sector of the dominant oligarchies that is present in this process, because the main market for its production is coming from china. In other words, theyre filling their pockets from chinese money and not the us dollars. Why do i think that china cant be driven out from latin america . For very simple reason, because the us no longer has the capacity to buy all these resources and all the ch porque Estados Unidos ya no tiene la capacidad de comprar todo recurso y de sustituir el cabochino, estamos de acuerdo, sin embargo, are the main rival of the americans, witnessing nato and ukraine, were waiting the ukraine war with russia, theyre actually nato forces fighting russians and not the ukrainians, in this way the us wants to get close to china and defeated. When they talk about this weak expression, latin americas backyard of the us, we come to realize that they come to this and its allies in the global north with implications for latin america. It actually mentions all the points that we talked in this program. We have studied over 10 years to write this book. It describes the debate in the Power Centers regarding Natural Resources and how to prevent other powers presence in latin america, especially china. It is actually serious debate among americans. It delivers the geopolitical dimension of the environmental and ecological debates. And opens eyes a little to ecologically and politically correct course which about power. The socioenvironmental problems in latin america, the americans want to preserve these Natural Resources for themselves. This is actually the main topic, this is part of the uss ideology to be able to continue as a germany power y de proyeccion del poder Estados Unidos para seguirse manteniendo como una potencia hegemonica. Muchas gracias. Thank you very much. Fernando to be with us in this episode of black and white, hope to talk to you again in another program, thank you to this program, thank you so much david ambassador, yes all your team we know, its the first time to speak. The Saudi Crown Prince personally stressed that the negotiations between the kingdom of saudi arabia and the zionist israeli entity are both continuous and good. Muhammad bin salman claimed that with every passing day his country is getting closer to normalizing its relations with the israeli entity, but this time he never mentioned the Arab Peace Initiative nor the twostate solution and did not repeat traditional saudition concerning an independent state with its capital being the holy city of al quds. There is something concerning in these statements as the optimistic language used by the prince is not consistent with the current nature of the zionist government and comes outside the context of the accelerating collapse of what remains of the political peace process. Muhammad bin sals to normalization this week on the mideast stream. The International Community became involved in mali following the adoption of a resolution in 2010, its an evil force that needs to leave our land, its been of no use, its failed to deliver, give us few weeks and we will drive them out of the country. I love our country and i love the armed forces, i think theyre doing a good job. We want new institution for young people in mali, it will bring peace, prosperity and stability, your headlines for this our advanced Security Forces thought assassination plan. Was targeting several senior sunny clerics, judges and members of the Islamic Revolution gards core. A new report says israel has detained over 135,000 palestinians since the alaxada started in 2000, including thousands of children. And nagornokarabakhs breakaway government announces is dissolution as over half of the enclaves population moved to armenia following azerbaijans offensive