ISDS Case Map
Venezuela
Much has been written and theorized about the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA) since President Chavez first proposed the idea at Isla Margarita at the III Summit of the Heads of State and the Government of the Association of Caribbean States in December, 2001.
While the world was focused on the tragic events taking place in Lebanon and northern Israel, something very disturbing happened in South America last week. The trading bloc known as Mercosur (the South American common market), at its summit meeting in the Argentine city of Cordoba, formally supported Venezuela's bid for one of the two Latin American seats on the United Nations Security Council.
Vannessa Ventures Ltd. (the "Company") has an arbitral claim being heard in accordance with the rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, D.C. where Vannessa is requesting remedies under the Bilateral Investment Treaty between Venezuela and Canada.
Free-trade agreements generally set tariffs on beef and commodities and deal with government procurement contracts and labor provisions. But as US Congress prepares to vote on a contentious free-trade accord with Peru, the figure of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez is looming large.
Latin America is living in times of hope and changes where the longings of Simon Bolivar's plans for integration have a new validity; but there are also dangers posed by those who are committed to the traditional subordination and ties to Washington.
Sources say Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez's challenge to the Free Trade Area of the Americas was on the top of the agenda of the Bilderberg Group meeting in Canada last week.
The foreign ministers of the Andean Community of Nations (CAN) forged ahead in attempts to quiet fears of an imminent collapse of the bloc following Venezuela's withdrawal, despite member-country political differences that were all too evident at the regional summit.
Venezuela's president Hugo Chávez, Brazil's president Lula Inacio da Silva, and Nestor Kirchner, president of Argentina, met in Sao Paulo, Brazil on April 26 to discuss possibilities for integration and collaboration. On April 29, Cuba's president Fidel Castro met with Chávez and newly elected Bolivian president Evo Morales to sign a People Trade Agreement (TPC), which is seen as a step towards the alternative trade agreement being proposed by Chávez, the Bolivarian Alternative for the Americas (ALBA).
The Ministers of Health of ten South American countries issued a
joint declaration on intellectual property committing themselves to
avoid "TRIPS plus" provisions in bilateral and regional trade agreements,
to facilitate the use of compulsory licensing and parallel importing and to
avoid broadening the scope of patentability and the extension of
patentable areas.
Mexican officials said Monday they will seek a replacement for Venezuela after the South American nation decided to quit the G-3 trade pact.
