Alternative Raw Materials Week 2026

The expansion of lithium mining and the extraction of other minerals deemed "critical" for the energy transition—driven by the Global North, including the European Union—already affects, or threatens to affect, complex territories and entire lives in Latin America. At the heart of this problem lies the Gran Atacama region, a millennia-old complex of ecosystems on the border between Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, rich in natural life and culture, reduced by the mining industry to the label "Lithium Triangle."

The impacts of this mining are not accidental. They result from economic and political decisions made from outside by governments, companies, and financial institutions. Those who live in the Gran Atacama not only bear the costs of an energy transition model they did not choose, but their perspectives are rarely considered.

In this webinar, AIDA presented "Territories Under Threat: Lives Affected by the ‘Lithium Fever’ in Argentina, Bolivia and Chile," a multimedia and interactive website that amplifies the voices of communities defending their homes, culture, knowledge, and ways of life in the face of this new wave of extractivism. The website includes images, testimonies, stories, and various visual elements to reinforce a narrative that prioritizes life and serves as a tool for territorial defense. The website presentation was accompanied by remarks from representatives of organizations that defend human rights and the rights of nature in the Gran Atacama region.

Panel

• Yeny Rodríguez, AIDA: Welcome and Introduction.
• Víctor Quintanilla, AIDA: Presentation of the “Territories Under Threat” website and moderation.
• Veronica Gostissa, Pucará Assembly: Protection of Rights in Argentina.
• Vivian Lagrava, Empodérate Human Rights Collective: Protection of Rights in Bolivia.
• Antonio Pulgar, NGO FIMA: Protection of Rights in Chile.

Recording (in Spanish)