Governments in emerging economies have always kept a keen eye on their natural resources.
Some countries have had enough power and independence to keep other foreign entities away from their resources. Some have not, and have used their natural resources as a pathway to industrialisation to economic beneficiation.
Last year, IM tracked how two very different candidates running for Presidency in Peru Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of imprisoned former President Alberto Fujimori, and socialist Ollanta Humala - both used mining and taxation on mining as central to campaigns.
While Fujimori used free market policies as her campaign’s core focus, Humala promised higher mining royalties for foreign entities. In the end, Humala was voted in, but only after he toned down his anti-capitalist stance.
In Peru, the mining sector and its hold has polarised debate. On one hand people credit foreign investment for getting the country back to...