CAFTA
The U.S., for the most part, lost its first challenge of another country’s adherence to the labor rules under a trade deal.
El Salvador froze bank accounts and assets belonging to OceanaGold Corp after the mining company refused to pay the country $8 million as mandated by an international court.
Guatemala has agreed to eliminate its 12.5 percent tariff on U.S. fresh, frozen and chilled poultry products under the U.S.-DR-CAFTA free trade agreement
Pac Rim Cayman raises interesting jurisdictional issues as well as environmental and social justice issues in the context of resource development in developing countries.
Pac Rim Cayman LLC thwarted in attempt to recover damages from El Salvador
There has been no overarching ‘Latin America’ policy under the outgoing administration. This overall situation will largely remain the same under the Trump administration.
The U.S. Grains Council recently announced new grain import records set by Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua.
The TPP threatens to extend the most draconian feature of the contemporary free trade model: private corporation’s ability to sue sovereign nations.
A TECO Energy subsidiary has won a $21.1 million award in a business claim against the government of Guatemala.
Proposals like the Alliance for Prosperity Plan and the Trans-Pacific Partnership will only accelerate a race to the bottom for families in the Northern triangle of Latin America.
The agro and agribusiness sectors have profited the most from the US-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement (DR-CAFTA) during the 10 years since it took effect.
A long-running dispute over Guatemala’s compliance with the labor provisions in the Central American Free Trade Agreement won’t be resolved soon.
The long-running struggle of rural communities in Guatemala against the United States-based mining firm Kappes, Cassiday, and Associates (KCA) continues in Guatemala’s national courts.
The Guatemala Mining Explorations (Exmingua) threatens with filing a lawsuit against Guatemala after being forced to suspend operations by decree of the Constitutional Court .
Human rights leader Berta Caceres’ assassination now serves as a global symbol of the struggle for freedom and democracy as colonized peoples world-wide languish beneath the yoke of imperialism.
The dairy industry has thanked the US government for its extensive work aimed at securing clarifications regarding the right to use several generic cheese names in exports to Honduras.
It’s clear that the free-trade panacea promised by policymakers, especially its most enthusiastic cheerleaders has not come to pass.
What labor complaints seek is not “dispute settlement” but freedom and rights for workers. CAFTA has not yet achieved this in Honduras.
When Guatemala joined CAFTA in 2006, proponents of the deal said it would improve conditions for workers. Seven years later, Guatemala was named the most dangerous country for trade unionists. Supporters of the TPP are making many of the same promises.
This briefing finds significant ICSID bias in favour of corporations and commercial interests by analysing ICSID overall and by looking at a specific case brought by a global mining corporation against El Salvador.
