An article has been published in the Brazilian Communist Party's monthly journal, O Poder Popular, written by Lucas Silva, a member of the PCB Central Committee, concerning the most recent surge in interest in rare earth elements in Brazil.
Rare earths: The defense of national and popular sovereignty
The crisis of hegemony within the imperialist bloc takes on new contours, not only with the aggression against Iran but also in the dispute for strategic resources. At the center of this dispute, rare earths and Brazil gain special attention. The Trump administration's attempt to impose high tariffs on Brazilian products hid a voracious interest in the ownership of Brazilian rare earths and critical minerals.
What are rare earths? According to the GGN portal, “The so-called rare earths concentrate critical minerals that are important for the use and development of clean energy, electronics, and medicine industries, due to their use in the manufacture mainly of batteries.” They are also fundamental in military production. They are “a set of high-value heavy and light ores, with a total of 17 elements, such as lanthanum (La), cerium (Ce), praseodymium (Pr), neodymium (Nd), terbium (Tb), dysprosium (Dy), among others.”
Brazil only has fewer reserves than China, with 44 million tons, and Vietnam, with 22 million tons. Brazil and Russia occupy third place, with around 21 million tons, according to a survey by the United States Geological Survey carried out in 2023.
A dramatic chapter in the dispute over rare earths occurred on April 20, when the American company USA Rare Earth purchased 100% of the Serra Verde company for 2.8 billion dollars in a criminal agreement articulated by neofascist Ronaldo Caiado. Serra Verde operates the Pela Ema mine in Minaçu (GO), the only ionic clay mine in operation in Brazil. It is also the only producer of the 4 most critical and valuable heavy rare earths outside of Asia.
Popular movements, leaders, and left-wing parliamentarians such as Comrade Glauber Braga denounced this crime against our fragile sovereignty, defending the state monopoly and the creation of a public company to take care of the sector. However, the Lula government, given its class composition (dominated by fractions of the big bourgeoisie), made a critical speech and took some legal measures but did not carry out any concrete movement in defense of the creation of Terrabrás; on the contrary, it disapproved of the initiatives of PT parliamentarians.
The Ore Is Ours! For the state monopoly on rare earths!
In parallel to the case of Serra Verde, Congress is about to vote on PL 2780/2024, which establishes the National Policy for Critical and Strategic Minerals (PNMCE) but rules out the creation of Terrabrás, demonstrating once again the willingness of the Brazilian bourgeoisie to hand over our riches to imperialist exploitation. But the battle is not lost. In turbulent times like we live in, more than ever having sovereign and popular control of rare earths is the order of the day. Not only to enjoy the profits from the exploration of rare earths for use in public services and social rights, but also to have the option to extract or not, to know how to extract and refine, to minimize the environmental impacts arising from this productive activity, and to use these minerals to leverage industrialization policies and the creation of quality jobs, among other things.
Sovereignty over rare earths through a state company plays a decisive role in accumulating forces to strengthen our sovereignty and raise awareness among working people about the importance of nationalization of strategic resources. But this will only be possible through a great popular campaign in defense of the state monopoly on rare earths, connecting this battle with the strategic struggle for true independence and popular sovereignty in the face of big national and imperialist capital, the struggle for the construction of a proletarian and socialist state, the only real guarantee of sovereignty in our country.