Chile, in the spotlight for its lithium and copper reserves

• Chile: For its energy transition, Switzerland points to the Atacama Desert for its lithium and copper reserves.
• Argentina: The Argentine Senate approved the revised draft of the Bases Law in the context of violent clashes outside the legislative precinct in Buenos Aires.
• Cuba: A flotilla of Russian ships arrives in the port of Havana, including a nuclear submarine.

The Swiss mining industry in the Atacama Desert

In the border region between Chile, Argentina and Bolivia are the largest lithium reserves in the world. The north of that country is also rich in copper. The two minerals are necessary for the progressive reduction of CO₂. This arouses global interest, including Switzerland, since the foundations for the energy transition are being laid in Chile, recalls Teresa Delgado, correspondent in Chile of the German unit of the Swiss Radio and Television Society (SRG SSR) to which SWI swissinfo.ch also belongs to it.

In a publication dated June 12, Delgado indicates that Helene Budliger, head of the Swiss State Secretariat for the Economy (Seco), traveled to Chile, where she recently attended Exponor, one of the largest mining industry fairs in the world.

“If we want to win the fight against climate change, we need Chile, due to its important and strategic reserves of copper and lithium,” said Budliger at the fair, held in the city of Antofagasta, in a region rich in mineral resources. There, mining companies such as Glencore operate, without escaping criticism for alleged violations of human rights and environmental pollution.

Most mines in the region have high water consumption, which is problematic in a desert area and in a country where water is a private good, according to the Chilean Magna Carta. Therefore, “it is crucial to be at the technological forefront, and Switzerland has a lot to offer in this regard,” Budliger said at the fair. (SRFExternal linkin German)

Strong protests against Milei reforms

The scenes of confrontations between law enforcement and people who demonstrated against the Senate’s approval of the legal framework with which Milei intends to deregulate the economy, reform the State and privatize various public companies, have appeared in much of the main newspapers in Switzerland.

Dozens of people have been injured in clashes between police and anti-government protesters in Argentina. Hundreds of police officers were deployed on Wednesday in front of Congress in Buenos Aires, using tear gas and water cannons, reported the German-language newspaper Tages Anzeiger (TA), one of the most recognized newspapers in Switzerland, whose headquarters are in the city of Zurich.

During the protests, the Senate debated President Javier Milei’s plans to massively cut the budget and significantly liberalize the market. To ensure approval in the Upper House, the Government had to considerably shorten the catalog of proposed measures.

The Swiss newspaper shows and translates part of the message that President Milei’s office published on the online service On the other hand, the main French-speaking Swiss newspaper based in Geneva, Le Temps, includes in its article the reasons why Milei finds it so difficult for Parliament to approve his reforms. (T.A.External linkin German, Le TempsExternal linkin French)

Presence in Cuba of four Russian shipowners

Information from the Swiss news agency Keystone-ATS about the arrival last Wednesday in Havana, Cuba, of four Russian vessels, including a nuclear-powered submarine, was reproduced in various Swiss online media. In this regard, the Government of Cuba had already confirmed that the ships do not carry nuclear weapons on board, nor do they represent a threat to the region.

US Pentagon and State Department officials have corroborated that Russian activity is routine and does not pose any threat to the US, noting that Cuba received Russian ships once a year between 2013 and 2020. However, It is the first event of its kind since the war broke out in Ukraine, and indicates a strengthening of ties between Moscow and Havana after the invasion of February 2022, expanded on this, Michele Montanari, of the newspaper Corriere del Ticino, one of the two newspapers from the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland.

The ships will carry out a five-day official visit, with exercises by Russian forces a few hundred kilometers from Florida. (Corriere del TicinoExternal linkin Italian)

Attention to this routine act between Cuba and Russia has drawn attention this time due to the war that Russia is waging on Ukrainian soil. Precisely, this weekend, Switzerland organizes the Conference for Peace in Ukraine. To have a deep context about this meeting, we invite you to click on these explanatory articles about this meeting.

+ Switzerland did not invite Russia to the peace conference. A mistake?

+ Why China stays out of the Swiss-led Ukraine peace process

+ The Conference on Ukraine aims to find the path to peace

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We will send you our next review of the Swiss press on June 22. In the meantime, good reading! And if you’re not already receiving this weekly newsletter directly to your inbox, please sign up here.

Reviewed by Carla Wolff