ISDS in numbers Impacts of investment arbitration against Latin America and the Caribbean
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Regions
Investor-state arbitration is draining public resources across Latin America and the Caribbean. This report reveals who is suing governments, who profits, and how a little-known legal system has cost states billions; undermining democracy, public policy, and development.
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Authors
Authors
Introduction
Over the past three decades, Latin America and the Caribbean have become one of the most targeted regions in the world for investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) claims. Foreign investors have filed at least 419 known cases against countries in the region, and governments have been ordered to pay US$36.6 billion in compensation, an amount comparable to major public spending needs across multiple sectors.
These cases are not abstract legal disputes. In one of the largest awards, Venezuela was ordered to pay US$8.4 billion to ConocoPhillips, while Argentina paid over US$5 billion to settle a dispute with Repsol. Such cases illustrate how investment arbitration can impose enormous costs on public budgets and shape policy decisions.
This updated edition of ISDS in Numbers provides a systematic overview of investor-state arbitration in the region, examining who is suing, who wins, and which sectors are most affected. By making the data accessible, the report sheds light on a system that often benefits transnational corporations while constraining governments’ ability to regulate in the public interest.
Additional documentation and analysis on investment disputes in Latin America is available through the ISDS América Latina website.
Table of contents
- The explosion in the number of claims 3
- The countries being sued 4
- A boom in claims 5
- Arbitration winners and losers 6
- The countries that have lost the most cases 7
- The cost of ISDS claims 7
- Investors' countries of origin 10
- Treaties invoked 10
- Economic sectors affected by claims 11
- The arbitrators 12
- The law firms defending investors and states 13
- The rules of the game and the institutions enforcing them 15
Credits
Authors
Editors
- Deborah Eade
- Karen Lang
Translators
Design: Original design by Ricardo Santos, update by Mauricio Tarducci
We would like to thank Lucía Vicente and Francisco Cantamutto for their valuable comments on the draft.
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