Support Transnational Reporting on the Green Transition

About Me:

I am a bilingual (Spanish-English) freelance writer born in Argentina and specializing in Latin American and US politics and culture, with a particular interest in their intersections in tech and environmental issues. I have written about these issues for publications including the Washington Post, The New Republic, and The Baffler. I graduated from Haverford College in 2021 with a degree in English.

My project:

Lithium has become the key to a green future because it’s at the center of the batteries that power electric vehicles. With China far outspeeding the US in developing and adopting electric vehicles, lithium has also taken center stage in a geopolitical struggle between the US and China that many have called a “New Cold War.” I have been commissioned by the prestigious Mexican magazine Gatopardo to write a long chronicle focusing on this year’s RNC and DNC which will focus on interactions between US and Latin American politics at a time of political transition for both regions. In Latin America, far right “mini-Trumps” have arisen—Javier Milei in Argentina, Nayyib Bukele in El Salvador, and Daniel Noboa in Ecuador, not to mention Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil—while the US’ November election promises to reshape American politics for decades.

Lithium extraction requires vast natural resources and has proven shockingly destructive in the so-called “lithium triangle” of Northern Argentina and Chile, and Southern Bolivia, where lithium-rich salt flats lie almost entirely in indigenous lands. Both provincial governments and global mining conglomerates have collaborated to override the rights of those lands’ ancestral inhabitants. A recent instance that has gone mostly unreported and to which I hope to bring some visibility is the beginning of exploratory mining in the “Salinas Grandes” of Jujuy and Salta, permitted by a highly questionable if not outright unlawful authorization granted by one of over 30 indigenous communities that inhabit the area. Thus, I am currently pitching a story that connects these local actualities with a broader US political and tech landscape.

My hope is that these two pieces can, eventually, form the basis for a book that tells a story about climate change, tech, and politics across borders and language by following developments from the ground up: from specific community leaders in one salt flat in Jujuy, to the provincial government, to Javier Milei’s far right government and the “New Cold War” between the United States and China.

What I Need:

As I continue to develop these pieces, I am in need of funding to carry out the reporting. What I’m hoping to raise would cover direct costs, such as flights and hotels, so that I can complete both projects and shine a light on this urgent issue, as well as develop them into a book. It would also help supplement my income, underwriting the cost of missed work and day-to-day living expenses as I carry the project through to fruition.