ISDS Case Map
Latin America
As with Western BITs, bilateral investment treaties between China and numerous Latin American countries potentially protect Chinese investors by authorizing them to bring legal claims related to their investments against the host country government directly and to settle those disputes in international arbitration, rather than in the domestic courts
Two key figures in Chinese politics embarked on a tour of Latin American countries on February 9, in a sign that the Asian superpower is intent on consolidating its already substantial stake in the region.
Making hemispheric Economic Integration work for all. This is one of the aspirations spelled out in the report of the Partnership for the Americas Commission, a grouping of leaders from across Latin America and the Caribbean, which is linked to the Washington-based Brookings Institution.
Chinese President Hu Jintao has left Latin America with one free trade agreement in hand, another in the works and a deeper Chinese footprint in a region long seen as the US backyard.
Hu Jintao and scores of business people sweep through Latin America to reinforce Beijing's economic power in the region
US business leaders are urging President-elect Barack Obama to withdraw his opposition to free trade agreements. Obama has opposed bilateral FTAs without market protection measures and has asked for improvements in the labor practices of partner countries.
The free trade agreements that the US and the European Union “propose” to Latin America and the Caribbean include waiving sovereign control on food flows. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization admits that although food production increased in the region, the number of people suffering hunger also did.
The Southern Bank is not just a bank, not even a further development bank. It is the expression of the struggle against a model that takes out resources from the poorest nations. If this bank no longer manages to represent such expression and becomes more of the same, the movement will have a new institution to resist.
The EU is currently negotiating FTAs with Central America, the Andean Community of Nations and Mercosur. Its objective is to use these agreements to complete the privatisation process, to remove restrictions on European property and activity in the region, to acquire full access to natural resources and to obtain guarantees that European companies will be able to operate with clear advantages over national companies. Moreover, all these concessions granted to European companies are to be protected from any political changes that the peoples of the region might want to undertake in the future.
Trade ministers from Africa and Latin America met last week in Marrakesh to discuss the state of South-South trade. Despite recent advancements, trade between developing countries remains low.
