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)

Canada’s National Observer | 9-Jan-2024
The battle between a Canadian mining company and Panama over one of the richest copper-gold mines in the Americas is headed to international arbitration – exposing Canada’s double standard when it comes to promoting free trade in the Global South.
AFTINET | 9-Jan-2024
Panama is facing at least three Investor-State Dispute Settlement cases from mining investors who claim that their investments have been affected by the decision.
CIAR Global | 4-Jan-2024
La canadiense Montauk Metals ha anunciado que se le han adelantado US$200.000 en virtud del acuerdo con Omni Bridgeway tal y como anunció previamente en un comunicado de prensa de 9 de noviembre de 2023.
Reuters | 3-Jan-2024
Ecuador’s procurator said the country has won an international arbitration and will not be liable to pay $198 million to engineering firm Worley International Services over oil project contracts.
Zone Bourse | 3-Jan-2024
Le procureur de l’Équateur a déclaré que le pays avait gagné un arbitrage international et qu’il ne serait pas tenu de payer 198 millions de dollars à la société d’ingénierie Worley International Services dans le cadre de contrats relatifs à des projets pétroliers.
CIAR Global | 28-Dec-2023
La Secretaría de Economía mexicana ha informado de que, de mutuo acuerdo con Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) y CDP Groupe Infrastructures Inc., han decidido suspender temporalmente el procedimiento de arbitraje iniciado por ambas firmas ante el Centro Internacional de Arreglo de Diferencias relativas a Inversiones (CIADI), y registrado por su Secretaría el 15 de diciembre de 2023.
Página/12 | 28-Dec-2023
La Argentina recibió un fallo a su favor en el Ciadi por un reclamo de una empresa española, que había iniciado un juicio en 2020 contra el país por 668 millones de dólares. La defensa de la Argentina estuvo a cargo de la procuración del Tesoro.
Business World | 22-Dec-2023
Le gouvernement a stoppé une demande d’arbitrage international contre le pays déposée sur des questions d’énergies renouvelables par les fonds d’investissement canadiens Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec et CDP Groupe Infrastructures Inc.
Reuters | 21-Dec-2023
Canadian pension fund Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec and the Mexican economy ministry have temporarily suspended an international arbitration procedure to try to reach an agreement.
La Jornada | 21-Dec-2023
Por mutuo acuerdo, el gobierno mexicano y los fondos Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec y CDP Groupe Infrastructures Inc. decidieron suspender temporalmente un procedimiento arbitral, iniciado por ambas firmas en materia energética.