International
Arce and Putin agree that joint lithium and nuclear projects in Bolivia will operate in 2025
The president of Bolivia, Luis Arce, said that he agreed with his Russian peer, Vladimir Putin, that the joint projects undertaken by both nations in Bolivia for the exploitation of lithium and the development of nuclear technology will be fully underway in 2025.
The ruler explained to the media in La Paz the agreements reached with Putin during his recent visit to Russia, where he also participated in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
According to Arce, it was agreed that the project applied by the Russian firm Uranium One, one of the three that signed an agreement with Bolivia to apply its direct lithium extraction (EDL) technology in Bolivian salt salts, “has to go into operation in the 2025 management.”
The president assured that the state-owned Yacimientos de Litio Bolivianos (YLB) and Uranium One “are going to take all the precautions so that this decision can be reached” adopted “between both presidents.”
The same will happen in the case of the Center for Research and Development in Nuclear Technology (Cidtn) set up in El Alto, a neighbor of La Paz. Its operation includes three phases, the president recalled.
The first phase was the nuclear medicine and radiotherapy center inaugurated in 2022 and the second, the irradiation center for seed improvement and pest control launched last year, he said.
“They are the two stages that are complete and we have the third stage, which is the temperature of the nuclear reactor. Undoubtedly, this is the most delicate and longest. And we have also agreed with President Vladimir Putin that this project will be completed by June 2025,” Arce said.
With this, it is expected that the entire nuclear complex will be “in full operation by the middle of next year,” he added.
Other agreements reached between Arce and Putin include Russian support for Bolivia to buy liquid hydrocarbons to ensure its domestic supply. In turn, the expansion of the South American nation’s export “commercial base” to the Russian market will be promoted with products such as coffee, pineapple, quinoa, palm heart and chocolate, among others.
Arce also pointed out that Russia showed its “total predisposition” to provide medicines to Bolivia and offered half scholarships for Bolivians who want to study in that country, with one year included so that they can learn the language.
In addition, it was agreed with the University of St. Petersburg to send professors to teach Russian at the state language institute of Bolivia, and the recognition of the degrees achieved by Bolivian professionals in Russia will be facilitated, he said.
There is also an agreement for cooperation in sports, to improve the performance of Bolivian athletes, he added.
Arce highlighted his participation in the St. Petersburg forum, in which he presented about the so-called ‘productive community social economic model’ that he conceived together with other left-wing economists and that was launched in Bolivia in the governments of the ruling Movement to Socialism (MAS).
He assured that with his model, Bolivia is “showing the world” that it is possible to have economic development and “reduction of poverty and inequalities” in an adverse global context.
Bolivia and Russia have a marked political affinity that has even led the South American country to refrain from voting in United Nations resolutions regarding the condemnation of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
International
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump criticized what he described as unfair fees imposed on American ships passing through the Panama Canal and threatened to demand that Washington take back control of the strategic waterway.
“Our Navy and commerce have been threatened in a very unjust and reckless way. The rates that Panama charges are ridiculous,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform.
The president-elect also denounced the growing influence of China in the canal, a situation he called concerning as U.S. businesses depend on the waterway to transport goods between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
“This complete scam against our country will end immediately,” he stated.
The Panama Canal, completed by the United States in 1914, was handed over to Panama under the 1977 treaty signed by Democratic President Jimmy Carter. Panama took full control of the commercial passage in 1999.
“It was exclusively for Panama to manage, not China or anyone else,” Trump said. “We would never allow it to fall into the wrong hands!”
“If Panama cannot guarantee a ‘safe, efficient, and reliable’ operation of the canal, we will demand that the Panama Canal be returned to us in its entirety, without a doubt,” the Republican added.
Panamanian authorities did not immediately respond to Trump’s statements. While he will assume office on January 20, Trump has been exerting his political influence in the final days of President Joe Biden’s administration.
Five percent of global maritime trade passes through the Panama Canal, which allows vessels traveling from Asia to the U.S. East Coast to avoid the long and dangerous route around the southern tip of South America.
The countries that use the Panama Canal the most are the United States, China, Japan, and South Korea.
In October, the Panama Canal Authority reported earnings of nearly $5 billion in the last fiscal year.
International
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Russian President Vladimir Putin promised more “destruction” in Ukraine on Sunday, in response to a drone strike that hit a residential building in the city of Kazan, located in central Russia, on Saturday.
Russia accused Ukraine of launching a “massive” drone attack, which struck a luxury apartment block in Kazan, about 1,000 kilometers from the border.
Videos shared on Russian social media show drones hitting a high-rise glass building. No casualties have been reported as a result of the attack.
In his statements, Putin addressed the local leader of Tatarstan, the region where Kazan is located, during a virtual ceremony marking the opening of a road.
The attack in Kazan is the latest in a series of increasingly frequent bombings in this nearly three-year-old conflict. Ukraine has not commented on the attack.
Putin had previously threatened to strike the center of Kyiv with a hypersonic ballistic missile in response to Ukrainian attacks on Russian territory.
The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the recent Russian strikes on Ukrainian energy facilities were retaliation for Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied missiles to target Russian territory.
International
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
At least nine people were killed on Sunday after a small aircraft crashed in a commercial area of the tourist city of Gramado, in the southern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, authorities confirmed.
“There are nine confirmed deaths according to Civil Defense services, and there are no survivors from the plane,” said Cléber dos Santos Lima, director of the Interior Police Department of the Civil Police of the state, in a statement to AFP.
Authorities have not yet confirmed the exact number of passengers and crew aboard the aircraft, a turbo-prop Piper Cheyenne 400. However, Civil Defense had previously stated that “preliminarily, the plane was carrying ten people.”
The plane crashed on Sunday morning “into the chimney of a building, then onto the second floor of a house, and finally fell onto a furniture store,” according to a statement from the Rio Grande do Sul Public Security Secretariat.
Trump criticizes Panama Canal fees and demands U.S. control over strategic waterway
Putin vows retaliation following drone attack on luxury building in Kazan
Small plane crashes in Gramado, Brazil, killing nine people
Tec de Monterrey honors one of its students for his contribution to nanotechnology in medicine
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