
IN 1902, Britain, Germany and Italy imposed a naval blockade on Venezuela after president Cipriano Castro refused to honour debts and pay damages incurred by European companies and citizens during the civil wars that followed the Republic’s independence from Spain.
Violent intervention is still employed by Western governments nowadays when they consider it necessary — but more often as not their commercial interests are protected by international trade treaties and investment agreements.
Of these, more than 2,750 bilateral investment treaties, multilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements contain what are known as Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanisms whereby foreign investors can sue host countries for discriminatory practices that affect their future profitability.



