ABSTRACT
Since the turn of the century, various changes have produced important shifts in the actors, discourses, interests, power relations and institutions that influence the governance of oil, gas and mining in South America. This chapter looks from a panoramic stance at the arrival of new actors who affect the ways in which oil, gas and metal minerals in South America are used and managed, and discusses to what extent this involves a shift of elites. It provides an overview of the main developments that are relevant for the governance of these so-called strategic resources. On national changes, the chapter analyses the changing attitudes towards strategic resources in Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Brazil. On international elites, the focus is on changes affecting the region as a whole, such as the growing importance of Chinese actors. The chapter examines recent resource-related trends of regionalization, and discusses how elite shifts around oil, gas and mining influence environmental governance in South America.
