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)

Reuters | 9-Mar-2019
Venezuela must pay ConocoPhillips more than $8 billion to compensate for the 2007 expropriation of oil assets by the country’s late socialist leader Hugo Chavez, the World Bank ruled.
Le Figaro | 9-Mar-2019
Le Venezuela doit rembourser quelque 8,7 milliards de dollars au géant pétrolier américain ConocoPhillips en guise de compensation pour son expropriation en juin 2007, a jugé un panel d’arbitrage de la Banque mondiale.
Lex Latin | 6-Mar-2019
Los demandantes alegaron que Panamá expropió y no otorgó un trato justo y equitativo a las empresas y a su inversión en el proyecto.
Alternatives Economiques | 4-Mar-2019
Les victimes de la pollution pétrolière ont obtenu gain de cause contre Chevron devant la justice de leur pays, mais la décision a été annulée par la Cour d’arbitrage de La Haye.
| 1-Mar-2019
La empresa francesa de servicios públicos podría embargar bienes del país para asegurar el pago de parte de los millones en daños y perjuicios adeudados por el gobierno.
Le Figaro | 28-Feb-2019
Suez met la pression sur l’Argentine pour récupérer les 630 millions de dollars de réparation décidés par un arbitrage rendu en 2015 et a fait le premier pas vers une possible saisie d’actifs argentins.
Swiss Info | 28-Feb-2019
Suez amenazó con ceder a "fondos especializados" la deuda que Argentina tiene con al empresa francesa, si el gobierno argentino no acelera el pago de los 630 millones de dólares arbitrados por el CIADI.
Perfil | 28-Feb-2019
El abogado de la resistencia contra una mina de capital estadounidense-canadiense observó que es una “total irresponsabilidad” del ministro de Economía buscar un “arreglo” con la entidad extractora que demandó al país por la suspensión de sus operaciones.
Buenos Aires Times | 27-Feb-2019
French waste and water group Suez SA has contacted "specialised funds" about possibly selling its debt claims to Argentina, the group announced.
Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity | 27-Feb-2019
In February of 2011 the Ecuadorian Courts delivered an historic verdict, sentencing the Big Oil Corporation Chevron to pay US$9,500 million dollars for its contamination of the Ecuadorian Amazon (1964-1992). However, Chevron hit back via the Investor-State Dispute Settlement system and sued Ecuador.