Yesterday Mesa issued a law which returned 2.1m hectares of the Salar de Uyuni to state control. This replaced a previous law, issued under the previous government, which dramatically reduced the area of the salt flats held by government. The law, which has now been superseded, would have allowed foreign companies to operate in most of the flats, which are close to the Chilean border.
Mesa's decision immediately led to the end of a hunger strike, called by NGOs in the Potosí area. The strikers had wanted the government to stop Chilean companies being able to exploit the resources in the salt flats. The flats contain lithium, boron, sodium, magnesium, calcium and other valuable salts.
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