Venezuela officially withdraws from Icsid

Venezuela's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday reported in a statement that on January 24 it formally communicated to the World Bank its "irreversible denunciation" of the "Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and Nationals of Other States" (1966), which set up the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (Icsid).

The Foreign Ministry said that "the Constitution of the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (1999) renders null and void, in spirit and in letter, the provisions of the Convention when it provides in Article 151 that "in the public interest contracts, (...) any doubts and disputes which may raise (...) shall be decided by the competent courts of Venezuela, in accordance with its laws and shall not on any grounds or for any reason give rise to any foreign claim."

Venezuela's withdrawal from Icsid has taken place a few weeks after the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) awarded USD 907 million to Exxon Mobil for the expropriation and breach of contract of Cerro Negro and La Ceiba projects.

With reporting by Ernesto J. Tovar