In Bolivia, Untapped Bounty Meets Nationalism - NYTimes.com

In Bolivia, Untapped Bounty Meets Nationalism - NYTimes.com
The history of Bolivia includes that of Potosí, a city in the middle of the Departmento of the same name. Potosí is located at the base of Cerro Rico, considered by many to have been the single largest silver deposit on earth. Cerro Rico's exploitation created the city of Potosí. At one time the largest European city in the Americas and without a doubt the richest. Of course all of that silver (and other precious minerals) made its way to Spain minus what the pirates and Davey Jones didn't take. The wealth of Cerro Rico was tremendous and even a little of that wealth created the city of Potosí. The rest was lost for Bolivia's development. Incredibly, what was once the richest part of the New World for over a century (Bolivia) has remained as the least developed country ever since.
That is only one of the stories of exploitation of Bolivia's natural wealth over the last 500 years. The mineral wealth was either carted away by foreigners or outright stolen (the copper of "Chile" is largely in land lost to Chile over one hundred years ago in the War of the Pacific.) Thus the underlying "nationalism" that is stated in today's NYTimes. There are 500 years of resentment for having had the tremendous wealth of Bolivia hauled away leaving us nothing. Now with the guarantee of the new constitution (today the final vote count was certified approving it) the exploitation of mineral wealth will remain in the hands of Bolivians. It might not be mined or refined as fast as the world wants it, but by golly it will remain under the control of the Bolivians.