Latin America

Latin American and Caribbean countries have signed almost 700 investment agreements. They have been targeted in almost 300 investor-state disputes.

Argentina has faced almost 62 ISDS cases, about 6% of all cases, making it the world’s most targeted state. Venezuela and Mexico have been among the ten most frequent respondents in the world, with 51 and 33 cases, respectively.

Many key cases such as Renco vs. Peru, Chevron vs. Ecuador or Pac Rim vs. El Salvador have originated in significant environmental damages caused by corporations. Philip Morris took an ISDS case against Uruguay over its anti-tobacco law.

Chile, Mexico and Peru are also party to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) with eight other Pacific Rim states. The TPP includes an investor-state dispute mechanism that undermines public-interest ‘safeguards’.

The most well-known cases ISDS cases in the region include:

Chevron (US) vs. Ecuador: For 26 years, Texaco, later acquired by Chevron, performed oil operations in Ecuador. Ecuadorian courts found that during that period the company dumped billions of gallons of toxic water and dug hundreds of open-air oil sludge pits in Ecuador’s Amazon, poisoning the communities of some 30,000 Amazon residents. After a legal battle spanning two decades, in November 2013, Ecuador’s highest court ordered the corporation to pay $9.5 billion to provide desperately needed clean-up and health care to afflicted indigenous communities. Chevron challenged the decisions produced by Ecuador’s domestic legal system before an ISDS tribunal. In 2018, the arbitration tribunal held that the $9.5 billion judgment was fraudulent, violated international public policy and should not be recognised or enforced by the courts of other States. The amount of the award has not been established yet. (Ecuador-United States BIT invoked)

Occidental Petroleum Corporation “Oxy” (US) vs. Ecuador: in 2012 Ecuador was ordered to pay US$1.77 billion to the investor, an oil exploration and production company, for breach of contract. Sentence was reduced to US$1 billion in November 2015 (Ecuador-United States BIT invoked).

Investors vs. Argentina: When Argentina froze its utility rates in response to its 2001-2002 financial crisis, it was hit by over 40 lawsuits from investors, including Suez & Vivendi (France), Sociedad General de Aguas de Barcelona S.A (Spain) and Anglian Water (UK). The ISDS tribunal concluded that Argentina had breached the investors’ right to fair and equitable treatment. By 2014, the country had been ordered to pay a total of US$980 million (various BITs invoked).

Photo: Sairen42 / CC BY-SA 3.0

(April 2020)

iProfesional | 29-Aug-2017
El tribunal internacional aceptó tener jurisdicción en la demanda que tratará el juicio que una aseguradora norteamericana le inició hace meses al gobierno nacional por la estatización del sistema previsional y ya terminó de constituirse el tribunal que tratará el caso.
Miami Diario | 29-Aug-2017
La Corte del Distrito Sur de Nueva York falló a favor de la transnacional canadiense Crystallex International Corporation en la querella que sostiene con el gobierno venezolano, logrando que el tribunal aprobara el embargo de unos US$1202 millones.
Clarín | 25-Aug-2017
A nueve años de la estatización de las AFJP, la gigante estadounidense Metlife y dos de sus subsidiarias argentinas (MetLife Servicios y MetLife Seguros de Retiro) presentaron una demanda contra el país ante el Ciadi, el tribunal arbitral del Banco Mundial, por las inversiones que la Argentina nacionalizó.
Ámbito | 25-Aug-2017
Hace una semana el organismo había resuelto un caso (Autopistas del Sol) pero se abrió uno nuevo por la nacionalización de las AFJP. La mayoría es por reestatizaciones y la salida de la convertibilidad. Sólo Maduro generó más litigiosidad.
Entorno Inteligente | 18-Aug-2017
La estatal Petróleos de Venezuela (Pdvsa) informó que actuará para proteger sus activos en Estados Unidos, tras la solicitud de embargo que hizo la minera canadiense Crystallex ante una corte de ese país por una disputa que arrastran ambas empresas desde hace años.
Lexology | 16-Aug-2017
In the last few months, the long-lasting dispute between Mr Pey Casado and the Foundation Presidente Allende and the Republic of Chile has seen numerous developments.
Latin America Herald Tribune | 15-Aug-2017
Crystallex — owed $1.4 billion for the expropriation of its Venezuela mining subsidiary — has moved U.S. Federal Court in Delaware to seize Petroleos de Venezuela Holding, the parent company of PDVSA’s American unit Citgo Holding.
La República | 9-Aug-2017
El representante de Odebrecht en Perú, Mauricio Cruz, advirtió que la constructora recurrirá a un arbitraje internacional si se pospone la venta de sus acciones en el proyecto Gasoducto Sur Peruano que, en su opinión, debe concretarse en enero de 2018.
Eje Central | 8-Aug-2017
Cortes para proteger inversiones se han corrompido hasta convertirse en fábricas de dinero.
CIAR Global | 2-Aug-2017
Las españolas Consorcio Andino SL y Valores Mundiales SL, subsidiarias de Gruma, líder en producción de harinas y derivados de maíz de México, han ganado un arbitraje contra Venezuela por una expropiación en 2010 que afectó a las inversiones de ambas compañías