Canadian Mining Interests in Bolivia, 1985–2015: Trajectories of Failures, Successes, and Violence (original) (raw)

Over the past decade there has been a growing interest in and concern about the actions of Canadian mining companies in Latin America. In this article we contribute to these debates by combining economic, social, and political analyses to examine the development of the Canadian government and the role of Canadian-headquartered companies in Bolivia's mining industry. First, we review the influence of the Canadian government's development assistance on Bolivian mining policy. Second, we analyze the characteristics of Canadian FDI and its effects on the Bolivian mining sector. We argue that the economic effects of Canadian mining companies in Bolivia have been less than significant. We consider it a failed attempt, since our data suggests that the Canadian government attempted to " make Bolivia work " for mining companies. Finally, we illustrate the specific trajectories of Canadian mining companies with four brief case studies, two mines in operation, and two " failed attempts. " In the first two case studies we examine the development and accumulation of capital. In the second two cases, we focus on the social conflicts, which arose around the exploration activities of two junior mining companies. We argue that junior companies are important to consider when surveying the Canadian government's role in the country. Durante la ultima d ecada, ha habido un creciente inter es en y preocupaci on acerca de las acciones de las empresas mineras canadienses en Am erica Latina. En este art ıculo contribuimos a estos debates mediante la combinaci on de un an alisis econ omico, social y pol ıtico para examinar el desarrollo del papel del gobierno de Canad a y de las empresas canadienses en la industria minera de Bolivia. En primer lugar, se revisa la influencia de la asistencia para el desarrollo del gobierno canadiense sobre la pol ıtica minera boliviana. En segundo lugar, se analizan las caracter ısticas de la IED canadiense y su impacto en el sector minero boliviano. Se argumenta que el impacto econ omico de las empresas mineras canadienses en Bolivia ha sido menos que significativo. Consideramos esto como un intento fallido en cuanto nuestros datos sugieren que el gobierno canadiense intent o " hacer que Bolivia funcionara " para las empresas mineras. Por ultimo, ilustramos las trayectorias espec ıficas de las empresas mineras canadienses con cuatro breves estudios de caso, dos minas en operaci on, y dos " intentos fallidos. " En los dos primeros casos de estudio examinamos el desarrollo y la acumulaci on de capital. En los siguientes dos casos, nos centramos en los conflictos sociales que surgieron en torno a las actividades de exploraci on de dos empresas Latin American Policy—Volume 7, Number 2—Pages 215–240 V C 2016 Policy Studies Organization. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. mineras junior. Se argumenta que es importante considerar el rol de las empresas junior cuando se analiza el rol del gobierno canadiense en el pa ıs.