Source: The New York Times
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 15, 2012
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Venezuela plans to leave the World Bank’s international arbitration body and try to settle disputes with foreign companies within its own judicial system, Rafael Ramírez, the country’s oil minister, said Sunday.
Mr. Ramírez also announced that Venezuela would seek to renegotiate dozens of international investment-related agreements.
“We do not accept impositions and we are going to rescue our national sovereignty,” Mr. Ramírez said in a televised interview.
Mr. Ramírez said disputes with foreign companies, including an unsettled disagreement with Exxon Mobil, would be heard by Venezuelan judges — not international forums like the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes, based in Washington.
“We are going to send notification of our withdrawal” from the center, Mr. Ramírez said.
Venezuela’s decision to leave would affect more than a dozen foreign companies that have unsettled disputes. The forum’s Web site lists 17 pending cases against Venezuela.
Mr. Ramírez recently said Venezuela did not intend to make any payments to Exxon Mobil beyond about $255 million that it agreed to in a recent arbitration.
