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Hello and welcome to Spotlight. I'm Marina Santee,
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And I'm Ruby Jones. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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‘By the way, I just want to say, I think I still have my Ford car in Chicago. It is a Ford hybrid. It goes great. You people should take a look.'
Voice 1
Barack Obama seemed proud to tell reporters about his car. He owns a Ford Escape - the American car company's new hybrid car. It uses both electricity and oil to power it. This makes it more environmentally friendly than most cars. Hybrid and electric cars are slowly becoming more popular. This could be good news for the environment. But it could also be especially good news for one particular country.
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The South American country of Bolivia could hold the key to producing large numbers of electric and hybrid cars in the future. In today's Spotlight we look at how this poor country could grow wealthy thanks to these new, more environmentally friendly cars.
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Bolivia is the poorest country in South America. But it now has hopes of becoming rich. Bolivia holds one of the key materials for making electric and hybrid cars - lithium. The newest electric cars are powered by lithium-ion batteries. The newest Hybrid cars use lithium-ion batteries as well as oil. These batteries are the most effective way of storing the electricity they need. Lithium is the best material for making many kinds of batteries. It is already being used to make batteries for cell phones and laptop computers. Currently much of the lithium comes from the South American countries of Chile and Argentina. But if battery powered cars become more popular, companies may need to find more lithium.
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Many of them think that Bolivia can provide that lithium. Scientists believe that about half of all the lithium in the world is in Bolivia. People are even calling Bolivia ‘the Saudi Arabia of lithium'. This is because it could be as important to lithium production as Saudi Arabia is to oil production.
Voice 1
The lithium in Bolivia is found in one particular area of the country. There is a huge area of flat land that is covered with salt. The Salar de Uyuni is the biggest salt flat in the world. It can even be seen from space. People living near it have been making money from its salt for generations. They dig up the salt and sell it in other parts of the country.
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However, people are now interested in what is under the salt. The lithium is found in a liquid that is in the ground under the salt. It is difficult to collect. Lithium collectors must evaporate the water in the salty liquid. They dig into the salt flats to create areas for the liquid to gather. When the water evaporates a thick liquid and pieces of mineral remain. Among these minerals is lithium carbonate. The lithium carbonate has to be processed in a factory to make other lithium compounds. These compounds are then used in batteries.
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Many international companies want to buy Bolivia's lithium. Companies from France, Japan and South Korea have all discussed their ideas with the Bolivian president. They want the lithium to make new lithium-ion batteries to use in cars and electrical devices. However, the president, Evo Morales has his own ideas. He does not want to sell the lithium in its unprocessed state. He wants to sell lithium-ion batteries. He thinks that Bolivia will make more money if they make the lithium-ion batteries themselves. He does not want rich international companies to profit from Bolivia's resources instead of the people of Bolivia.
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For hundreds of years Bolivia has been rich in minerals and materials. But much of the money made from these materials went to foreign companies. Businesses from outside of Bolivia grew rich by selling tin and silver from the country. But Bolivia remained poor.
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Bolivia now has a new government and a new constitution. It believes in sharing wealth out more evenly in the country. The President does not want lithium to be taken by companies in the same way that other materials were in the past. He wants Bolivia to grow rich from its produce.
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Luis Alberto Echazú is the government official who is responsible for mining in Bolivia. He spoke to the British news group ITN. He said,
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‘Any company that would like to work with us will have to develop industries here. If they do not there is nothing. It is very simple; we will not continue exporting unprocessed materials for another five hundred years. That is over. The companies in the world need to change their way of thinking. They cannot continue to live off the resources of poor countries.'
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But not everyone agrees with the government's attitude to the lithium. Some people think that Bolivia will not make money unless it agrees to sell the lithium to foreign countries. Some are worried that the companies will simply choose to do business with other countries instead of Bolivia. Carlos Mesa is the former President of Bolivia. He disagrees with President Morales' attitude to foreign companies.
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‘I do not believe that the president is right. I think that the president has a simple black and white way of thinking. I do not think he understands how the world economy works. He does not understand how you need to give and take.'
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For the people living near the Salar salt flat, lithium is their greatest hope to move out of poverty. Many of them think that they deserve the money that comes from it because it is near their homes. The leader of the workers living near the Salar de Uyuni is Francisco Quisbert. He told a reporter from the New York Times:
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‘We know that Bolivia can become the Saudi Arabia of lithium. We are poor but we are not stupid. The lithium may be Bolivia's, but it is also our property.'
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For hundreds of years rich international companies have made money from Bolivia's resources. But Bolivians remained poor. Now the Bolivian government is able to make sure this does not happen again. However, to make money it will need to agree a deal with a foreign company. It will be a difficult process to get a deal that both sides are happy with. For the workers of the Salar de Uyuni, it will be a long wait before they see any change in their economy. But their children may one day see Bolivia turn from poverty to wealth.
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