Transnationals and mining development in Bolivia, Chile and Peru

With the aim of taking greater advantage of their non-renewable natural resources, the governments of Latin America have made substantial changes in the production structure of the mining sector since the end of the war, expanding the share of the State in this sector’s activities and applying active policies as well as carrying out negotiations with the transnational corporations which have traditionally been in control of the sector, In the absence of any national private enterprises with the necessary financial, technological and administrative capacity, the Stale has been obliged in some countries to undertake entrepreneurial functions and to establish public enterprises to mine, process and market minerals. In spite of this, however, in many cases dependence on the transnational corporations has persisted, especially in the fields of technology and world-level marketing.