La extracción de litio en el contexto de la transición energética: Relaciones y espacios de negociación entre las comunidades atacameñas y las empresas mineras en el salar de Atacama, norte de Chile

Lithium in the Salar de Atacama was discovered in 1962, and since then it has become one of the world's most important deposits. Although promoted as an ecological mineral due to its use in batteries, its extraction entails high water consumption within a desert ecosystem historically inhabited by the Atacameño people. This article analyzes the current state of lithium mining in the context of the energy transition, with special attention to the negotiations that take place within a system of interethnic relations among indigenous communities, mining companies, and a state agency that manages mineral resources. Furthermore, it examines the context, strategies, contradictions, and socio‐environmental inequalities emerging in the territory as a result of the expansion of lithium mining within a framework of green extractivism.