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)

CIAR Global | 15-Mar-2018
Ecuador presentó el 8 de marzo un nuevo modelo de acuerdos bilaterales de inversión que pasarán a llamarse Convenios Bilaterales de Inversión.
Blu Radio | 15-Mar-2018
Aunque no se conoce el monto total de las pretensiones de estos accionistas, aseguran que son “varios cientos de millones de dólares”.
Infobae | 15-Mar-2018
La firma Burford vendió su participación en el litigio contra el Estado argentino y ganó USD 94,2 millones.
Cision | 15-Mar-2018
DC court ruled in Rusoro’s favour, rejecting all of Venezuela’s defenses and holding that the award was valid and enforceable in the United States.
Pulso | 9-Mar-2018
El operador del Transantiago dice que su intención era ofertar por las unidades 1 y 6 del sistema de transporte capitalino. Sin embargo, acusa que las bases fueron diseñadas para excluirlos de la reciente licitación.
Descifrado | 9-Mar-2018
La pequeña minera ruso-canadiense Rusoro habría ganado una demanda de 968 millones de dólares más intereses contra Venezuela por la expropiación de sus activos en el año 2012, a manos de Hugo Chávez. Así lo dio a conocer la casa de bolsa Rendivalores a través de Twitter. La información no ha sido oficializada.
Pulso | 9-Mar-2018
En su último escrito ingresado al tribunal, el operador del Transantiago solicita también una indemnización por daño moral de US$15 millones. El consorcio acusa que el Estado adoptó medidas que causaron perjuicios económicos y reputacionales.
La República | 9-Mar-2018
La empresa española Indra, una de las principales compañías globales de consultoría y tecnología, ha notificado al Ecuador su intención de iniciar un proceso de arbitraje internacional basado en el Tratado Bilateral de Protección de Inversiones entre España y Ecuador, tras la sentencia desfavorable en la demanda contra la Contraloría
Latin America Herald Tribune | 5-Mar-2018
US Federal District Court Judge Richard J. Leon has ordered Rusoro’s $1.2 billion ICSID Expropriation award against Venezuela registered in the US.