Argentina’s financial crisis highlights the role of public international law and bilateral investment protection treaties (BIT) as effective means of protecting investors’ rights. Individuals and companies that suffer damages as a result of government action abroad are increasingly aware of this recourse.
Latin American countries have been relative newcomers to international arbitration. Even today, Brazil and Mexico are notable absentees from the roster of signatories to the 1965 Washington Convention that set up the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid).
