Geopolitics / South America

• Argentina Running Out Of Options In Falklands Oil Fight

  As Argentina's oil battle with the United Kingdom rages on, the only other obstacle the South American country can throw at oil companies planning to drill near the Falkland Islands is to interdict U.K. ships or equipment - but regional expert Riordan Roett doubts the Argentines are “stupid enough to do that.” This would be a “very dangerous move” on the part of the Argentine government, said Roett, director of Latin American studies at Johns Hopkins University in Washington. Argentina, which went to war with the U.K. in 1982 over Falklands’ sovereignty, is “very careful” about challenging the British in…

• Ecuador Continues Its Defense in Arbitration Commenced By Chevron

  On March 11, 2010, the Honorable Leonard Sand, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, denied the Republic of Ecuador’s Petition to Stay the pending arbitration commenced by Chevron Corp. under the U.S.-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty. Chevron commenced the arbitration on September 23, 2009, claiming that Chevron is not being afforded adequate due process in the Ecuadorian courts with respect to an environmental claim currently being litigated between private parties, namely, a group of indigenous citizens of Ecuador and Chevron. Importantly, the plaintiffs in that case first filed their claims in the U.S. federal court in New…