MANUEL PÉREZ-ROCHA, manuel@ips-dc.org, @ManuelPerezIPS
Mexico lawmakers recently approved a bill to nationalize lithium. Pérez-Rocha writes in the Mexican outlet La Jornada: “Our Lithium and Investment Treaties” that: “Frustrated were the traitors of previous administrations and mining companies that salivated over the lithium in our country. They warn that the nationalization of lithium in Mexico contravenes the T-MEC [United States-Mexico–Canada Agreement]. The truth is that chapter 14-E of this treaty is limited to protecting companies with ‘government contracts’ from sectors that do not include the mining sector.”

He also recently wrote the piece “Ousted Pakistani Leader Was Challenging Investment Treaties That Give Corporations Excessive Power” for Inequality.org about how Mexico and many other countries are facing anti-democratic corporate lawsuits like the case that pushed Prime Minister Imran Khan to withdraw from international investment agreements.

Pérez-Rocha explained: “The parliament of Pakistan recently ousted Khan in a no-confidence vote. The reasons for the former cricket star’s political downfall are not entirely clear. His economic policies were a mixed bag at best, but he deserves credit for one thing: he’d taken a bold stand against international investment agreements that give transnational corporations excessive power over national governments.”

Also, see excerpts from Khan’s address before the UN General Assembly in 2021 where he notes that the “Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Financial Accountability, Transparency and Integrity (FACTI) has calculated that a staggering $7 trillion in stolen assets are parked in financial ‘haven’ destinations.”