jan 1, 2006 - FRUTCAS, a worker union from Potosi, presented the government a project to declare lithium a strategic resource allowing only state controlled exploitation

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The anti-neoliberal program of MAS became evident already in May 2006, when Morales
“nationalized” the oil and gas sector. This was done by sending the Bolivian army to take over
the natural gas installations that foreign actors controlled (Postero, 2017). The gas and mining
resources in Bolivia were nationalized by the state after the 1952 revolution but became
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privatized again under the neoliberal era of the 1980s and 1990s. According to Postero (2017)
these historical attempts of nationalization has led to a long collective memory of the state’s
involvement in the mining sector, which is considered a national patrimony (p. 97). The mines
constituted a large sector of public employment, with benefits, good salaries and high status
associated with working for the Bolivian nation (Nash, 1992). As a consequence of the
neoliberal restructuring in the 1980s, many miners were laid off. This was perceived by many
as a blow to the dignity of Bolivia’s working people (see Nash 1992 & Postero 2017). This
explains the immense support that Morales received when he chose to re-nationalize the
mining sector in 2007 (Postero, 2017).
The Unique Regional Federation of Peasant Workers of the Southern Altiplano (FRUTCAS)
suggested that a state-run company should be in charge of the lithium reserves

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