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Article: Evo-lution.(SOUTH AMERICA)(President Evo Morales of Bolivia took over a tin smelter in Vinto)
- Article from:
- Earth Island Journal
- Article date:
- March 22, 2007
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2007 Earth Island Institute. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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After months of tension between his left-progressive government and the country's mining industry, Bolivian President Evo Morales ordered troops February 10 to seize control of a tin smelter in Vinto, and said the facility would be nationalized. The smelter had been operated by the Swiss company Glencore International AG.
The Bolivian government owns the nation's mineral rights, and private mining is done through the sale of concessions. At press time, Morales had not announced terms for the seizure of the smelter, but stressed that Bolivia needed to gain control not only over its raw mineral resources but over the more valuable metals refined from Bolivian ore. ...