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Presidente Correa contra Ciadi

El 25 de junio en New York, el Presidente Correa habló en un evento contra el Ciadi organizado con apoyo de la UN-NGLS , Servicio de la ONU de enlace con organizaciones no gubernamentales, con el tema “si a los derechos de los pueblos, no a las utilidades de las corporaciones”, en la que debía hablar también Evo Morales, quien a última hora desistió de viajar a New York.

El evento se lo promocionó con una hoja volante con la siguiente leyenda.

“High-level panel discussion on “Peoples’ rights not corporate profits: Closing of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and challenging free trade agreements in the road to build a just economic and social governance” (organized by Our World is not for Sale (OWINFS), the Allianza Social Continental, Friends of the Earth International, Jubilee South, and Social Watch, in cooperation with the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Ecuador and the Plurinational State of Bolivia)

Thursday, 25 June 2009, from 1.15 to 2.30 p.m. in the Economic and Social Council Chamber.

[The President of the Republic of Ecuador and the President of the Plurinational State of Bolivia will address the event. All non-governmental organizations accredited to the Conference are invited to attend. For details on the featured high-level panel, please visit www.un.org/ga/econcrisissummit/events.shtml.]”

En el evento se repartió la siguiente hoja volante:

PEOPLE'S RIGHTS BEFORE CORPORATE PROFITS

Join the campaign to close ICSID (International Center for Settlement of Investors Disputes)

"Some multinational companies take over our natural resources, privatize basic services, fail to pay taxes and then, when they have no arguments in their defense, they go to the so-called ICSID. And then, in that World Bank tribunal, no country wins against the multinationals. So why do we need an ICSID where only the multinational companies can win?" — President Evo Morales of Bolivia

What is the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes?

The International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) is a secretive World Bank tribunal that allows multinational corporations to file charges against states that allegedly take measures affecting their investments. ICSID has become the multinationals' preferred instrument for international arbitration. ICSID enforces "investor protections" in U.S. free trade agreements and thousands of Bilateral Investment Treaties.

Why do we need to close ICSID?

· ICSID is notoriously unbalanced in favour of transnational companies. Of the 232 cases presented to ICSID, all but one have been cases of multinationals against governments. Transnational companies are not only able to claim for appropriated assets, but for any government policies that affect actual or even potential company profits. In two-thirds of cases, the multinationals secured rewards for their legal efforts.

· ICSID is anti-democratic. Through ICSID, multinationals have filed charges against governments on sensitive matters such as management of water (Bolivia), indigenous land rights (Guatemala) or protecting the economy during a crisis (Argentina). But nearly all trials are carried out behind closed doors, exclude affected social groups, and have no effective appeals process.

· ICSID is expensive

The average budget for a minor case which includes the fees of one and a half arbitrators, plus lawyers, experts and travel is about three million dollars. This cost may be marginal for giant corporations but impossible for small countries. Justice so priced is justice denied.

· ICSID attacks public budgets

ICSID allows multinationals to secure millions in awards based on fictitious "lost" future earnings. After investing at most one million dollars in a local water system in Cochabamba, Bolivia, U.S. corporate giant Bechtel filed charges against Bolivia for up to 100 million dollars for its supposed lost "future earnings" after it was thrown out in a popular uprising against rising water rates.

· Because there is a conflict of interest

The World Bank is both judge and party to the ICSID processes. The World Bank includes entities which pushed privatization that benefited transnational companies and has even invested directly in privatized companies that later sued governments. It is therefore not a neutral arbitration body.

What has ICSID got to do with the financial crisis?

Argentina faces more than 30 cases in ICSID due to the measures it took to protect its people from a severe financial crisis in 2001. Overall Argentina faces demands for $18 billion of compensation. Similar actions by countries facing the current financial crisis are likely to result in more litigations. Deutsche Bank has already filed a claim against Sri Lanka over a Supreme Court order to suspend government payments for oil derivative contracts, pending an investigation into charges of irregularities and flaws in oil derivatives contracts. Most bilateral investment treaties and U.S. trade agreements also restrict the authority of governments to impose capital controls, a policy tool used effectively by numerous countries in response to financial volatility. The financial crisis has shown that we need new financial and economic institutions that are rooted in supporting human rights, rather than corporate profit.

There is a growing movement against ICSID

In 2006, an international campaign forced Bechtel to drop its legal suit against Bolivia. In May 2007, Bolivia became the first country to withdraw from ICSID. It was joined by Ecuador in June 2009, while Venezuela and Nicaragua have also stated they will withdraw. In Latin America, there is a commission looking at developing just alternatives to ICSID. Now provides a key opportunity to get involved and push for an end to ICSID and a new framework for controlling foreign investments that guarantees human rights and protects the environment.

Find out more at: http://www.justinvestmentorg - http://stopeti.wordpress.com

Notas (en inglés) de un asistente sobre el pronunciamiento del Presidente Correa en dicho evento contra el CIADI en New York:

“The event was sponsored by a host of NGOs, most notably Our World is not for Sale ("OWINFS"). President Morales sent his apologies and did not show, but President Correa spoke. The other panelists were Tony Clarke from OWINFS and Lori Wallach from Public Citizen. The panel focused mostly on Free Trade Agreements and the WTO, but President Correa did address ICSID as well.

The most relevant/interesting parts of President Correa's remarks were his broad historical argument, his denunciation of the ICSID system and his proposal for a new "regional financial architecture." Correa's historical argument was that immediately after the Second World War, Latin America pursued an autonomous economic development, with mixed success. In the last 20-30 years, however, Latin America's economic development policies were "colonized" by the Washington consensus, to the detriment of the region's economy. The last few years have seen progressive governments coming to power in Latin America that were willing to "think for themselves" and put the interests of people above the interests of capital. This led to his denunciation of ICSID, as he argued that the ICSID system is about the rights of capital rather than the rights of people. He argued that if somebody committed a human rights violation in a Latin American country, any claim against that person would first have to exhaust local remedies and only then be brought to the Inter American Commission for Human Rights, whereas under the ICSID system an investor can complain of a governmental measure directly to ICSID. He also found it "absurd" that international corporations can challenge the validity of national law in an international tribunal, and called this the "dictatorship of capital." Finally, Mr. Correa proposed a new regional financial architecture for Latin America based on the three pillars of a Development Bank of the South, the pooling of foreign currency reserves among Latin American countries and a common currency.”