Originally from World Arbitration And Mediation Review (WAMR)

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PENN STATE INSTITUTE OF ARBITRATION

LAW&PRACTICE SYMPOSIUM ON
LATIN AMERICAN ARBITRATION
I. INTRODUCTION: LATIN AMERICAN ARBITRATION
By Mary Helen Mourra

In the 1990s, after more than one hundred years of resistance and
hostility to international arbitration, Latin American countries rapidly began
to ratify the relevant conventions on international commercial arbitration
and the recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Today, all
Latin American countries are parties to the United Nations Convention on
the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards of 1958 (the
New York Arbitration Convention) and the Inter-American Convention on
International Commercial Arbitration (the Panama Convention). Most have
signed the International Convention on the Settlement of Investment
Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States (the ICSID
Convention).1 Most either amended old arbitration laws or adopted new
arbitration laws that reflect modern international standards recognizing
arbitration as a valid and enforceable mechanism of dispute resolution for
international commercial disputes.
The dramatic reversal in Latin America’s receptiveness to international
arbitration is probably best explained by a combination of factors. The
factors to which the change is most frequently attributed are the
overwhelming exigencies that globalization has placed on all States that
wish to compete in the world economy and the need to facilitate
international trade with a neutral forum for dispute resolution. While those
factors have played a powerful role in bringing about legislative changes in
countries across the world, other equally influential factors played a central
role in pushing Latin America into the arena. Since its independence, Latin
America has relied heavily on foreign capital to finance its development.
While foreign capital has helped foster development in Latin America, it has
frequently burdened it with foreign debt. The relationship between Latin
American countries and foreign capital sources may explain, at least in part,
the reason for the one hundred years of hostility toward arbitration as well as
the recent and sudden change of attitude.