☀ Domingo Brief — Chile’s Lithium Boom

Each Sunday, take two minutes to catch key stories and opportunities shaping Latin America.

Welcome back to the Domingo Brief! This week, we’re watching Starlink’s arrival to Argentina, Mercosur’s trade talks with Japan, Uruguay’s big cruise ship number, and more.

---

Trivia of the Week

Only a third of you (32%) were right last week. In fact, Emperor Pedro II did not sign the so-called Lei Áurea (Golden Law) which abolished slavery in Brazil in 1888. Actually, his daughter, Princess Isabel did, and with just 18 words she cemented her legacy and instituted one of Brazil’s most important pieces of legislation ever.

Each week, tune back in for the answer to the previous week’s trivia question. No cheating!

---

🇦🇷 Argentina is opening up to foreign telecoms companies, beginning with Elon Musk’s Starlink, rival Amazon Kuiper, and British firm OneWeb. The authorization of these three firms was announced by the government’s official telecoms regulatory agency, ENACOM, and represents a significant liberalization of this sector.

---

🇨🇱 Chilean lithium exports reached $7.8B in 2023, reflecting now 8% of total exports (up from just 1% the previous year). The Andean country has bet big on global lithium demand in recent years, with a public-private partnership plan for extraction, and is blessed to have high quantities of the mineral. Notably, 75% of Chilean lithium exports go directly to China, demonstrating the East Asian giant’s massive significance for the Chilean economy.