Oil-rich and out of options: Venezuela's international arbitration saga of expropriation, enforcement and settlement

摘要

Once internationally marveled for its dominance and integrity, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela is rapidly descending into a dark, destitute abysm of its own creation. For decades, the country's respected captain has managed, though barely, to keep the Republic afloat; lighter than water, oil has until recently commanded and buoyed the vessel of Venezuela. However, the continuously compounding avarice and inflating egos of its highest ranking crew members, along with the systematic segregation of its passenger population and calculated discrimination against its international invitees, has slowly set the stage for unavoidable disaster. Venezuela is our generation's nation-state Titanic. With the structural soundness of the Venezuelan vessel already compromised by unsurmountable debt and U.S. sanctions, its hull was critically breached in August 2018 when, in an unprecedented decision, a Delaware federal court pierced the corporate veil of the Republic's national oil company, Petroleos de Venezuela, S.A. This paper highlights the disparate strategies and unprecedented results of the long-mounting movement by aggrieved investors to enforce international arbitration awards against Venezuela and its nationally-owned companies and affiliates in connection with the country's nationalization of its resources and, in turn, expropriation of foreign investments. Realizing it will surely sink without outside assistance, the Republic has been broadcasting messages of cooperation, in the form of dispute and financial settlement, to its creditors. With lifeboats running low and time running out, Venezuela appears to be transmitting to the international investment community an SOS: Save Our State.