July 10, 2023, 4:54 PM
July 10, 2023, 4:54 PM
The former Minister of Mining of the government of Evo Morales, Luis Alberto Echazu Alvaradohas been charged by the Public Ministry for the alleged commission of the crimes of breach of duties and uneconomic conduct. This after an audit that revealed irregular increases and illegal modifications to millionaire contracts intended for the exploitation of evaporite resources of the Salar de Uyuni, according to the newspaper El Potosí.
The imputation is evidenced by a tax decree issued in Uyuni on May 4 of this year, which is already an extension of the complaint that was filed against Echazú. This also corroborates that the complainant is the executive president of Yacimientos del Litio Bolivianos, Carlos Humberto Ramos Mamani.
According to the newspaper El Potosí, Echazú was the strong man in the lithium policy of former President Morales, since he successively held the main positions of responsibility in the matter: Vice Minister of Mining and Metallurgy (2006-2007), Minister of Mining and Metallurgy (2007-2010), National Manager of Evaporite Resources of the Mining Corporation of Bolivia ( Comibol, 2010-2017) and Vice Minister of High Energy Technologies (2017-2019).
Some days ago, Echazú appeared with Evo Morales at a conference press release in which the current handling of the lithium policy was criticized.
As stated by Ramos, on repeated occasions, is based on EDL technology (Direct Extraction of Lithium). According to Morales and Echazú, the lithium would have to be extracted by building pools.
The audit has identified direct awards of construction contracts for extraction pools during the years 2015 and 2016.
According to the complaint filed against him, Echazú must appear in court on July 14.
