Corporate Lawsuits Could Devastate Poor Countries Grappling with Covid-19

[marmar]

Corporate Lawsuits Could Devastate Poor Countries Grappling with Covid-19
Wealthy corporations may use trade courts to keep public health measures from cutting into their profits.

BY MANUEL PÉREZ-ROCHA


(In These Times) The country was in freefall. Formerly middle class families were hawking their valuables on the street. After dark, the most desperate would search through garbage cans for food.

That was Argentina in 2002. In that dark hour, as Argentine officials scrambled to lessen the pain of a deep economic crisis on average citizens, the last thing they needed was a barrage of corporate lawsuits. But that’s what they got.

CMS Gas, for example, sued Argentina over a policy to freeze utility rates in local currency to protect consumers from runaway inflation. An international tribunal ordered the beleaguered government to pay the U.S. corporation $133 million. Other corporations settled for hundreds of millions more.

With countries scrambling to survive the global Covid-19 pandemic, many other countries could suffer Argentina’s fate. As economies falter, these policymakers now have to worry that their policy responses could make them the target of lawsuits. ..............(more)

http://inthesetimes.com/article/22549/corporate-lawsuits-covid-trade-deal-investor-state-dispute-settlement

[empedocles]

1. Argentina was once the S. American success story.

'Pandemic Watch

Since 2000, those who are paying attention have watched one horrific collapse after another. We’ve seen banks seize assets and devalue holdings. We’ve watched people starve as money is devalued. We’ve seen hospitals unable to provide care and people working at jobs that won’t even buy a bag of rice at the end of the week.
Right now, we are watching countries, including our own, overextend spending and run in deficit. Eventually, it’s all going to come tumbling down. Things here in the US are becoming more desperate every month. You need only watch the collapses of these other countries to see how this story ends.

Ask yourself these questions:
Is your wealth protected or is it at the mercy of the financial system?
Do you have enough long-term food to last a long time should things continue to go bad?
Do you have the self-reliant skills you need to survive a long, drawn-out economic disaster?
And if you can’t say yes to these questions, what are you waiting for?
The people in Argentina right now are discovering that their money is buying less and the products are costing more. Soon, it will be a matter of availability. It’s really too late to prep when you reach this point. All you can do is hope to hang on.' - the Organic Prepper

Argentina Is on the Verge of Another Economic Collapse ...
https://www.theorganicprepper.com/argentina-economic-collapse