On 20 December 2022, US corporation Honduras Próspera Inc. announced a $10.7 billion legal claim against the Honduran government through the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Próspera’s investors want to be compensated by the Honduran people for their democratic decision to overturn a 2013 law enabling the creation of special economic zones known as ‘ZEDEs’. Sold to foreign investors as a crypto-libertarian paradise, these zones were granted unprecedented legal and financial autonomy from national government policies.
Próspera’s $10.7 billion claim is unpayable. It amounts to two-thirds of Honduras’s planned budget for 2023. And nor should it be paid. ICSID and so-called international arbitration courts like it are venues for corporations to force money out of states as compensation for public policies that advance the welfare of consumers, workers or the environment.
In February 2024, Honduran President Xiomara Castro asserted Honduran democracy and sovereignty by withdrawing from ICSID.
The Progressive International celebrates Honduras's historic decision.
In 2023, the Progressive International convened a high profile delegation to Honduras to hear directly from the communities affected by the ZEDEs, to draw international attention to the crime of corporate colonialism, and to support the government of President Xiomara Castro to defeat it.
Now, we are coordinating technical and political support for the people of Honduras to defeat the ZEDEs from top experts.
On 19 March 2024, 85 leading economists backed Honduras’ decision to quit ICSID, including Jayati Ghosh, Jeffrey Sachs, Gabriel Palma, Yanis Varoufakis, Ann Pettifor and Ha-Joon Chang.
Pledge your support.
Delegates
José Miguel Ahumada
Former Undersecretary of International Economic Relations of Chile
Efraín Guadarrama Pérez
General Director of American Regional Organizations and Mechanisms, SRE of Mexico
Maria Fernanda Carrascal Rojas
Representative of the Republic of Colombia
Jorge Coronado
Latin America and the Caribbean Better Without FTA/Latindadd
Esteban Silva
Coordinator, Latin America and the Caribbean Better Without FTAs
Andrés Arauz
Economist, Former Minister of Knowledge and Talent and Former Director of the Central Bank of Ecuador.
Matias Capeluto
Director, Casa Patria Grande, Argentina
Baltasar Garzón
International Lawyer; Former Magistrate
Giorgio Jackson
Former Minister Secretary General of the Presidency of Chile; Former Minister of Social Development
Guillaume Long
Former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ecuador; Senior Policy Analyst, CEPR
Alexander John Main
Director of International Policy, CEPR
Gabriela Rosazza
International Programs Assistant, CEPR
Ladan Mehranvar
Senior Legal Researcher, Columbia Center for Sustainable Investment
Maria Luisa Ortega Salvador
Project Manager, Polylat
Christian Pino Garrido
Former Secretary General of CAITISA
Luisa Connor
Chairman of Crawfish Rock Municipal Board
Stephanie Izamar Camarillo
Research Director, Global Trade Watch (Public Citizen)
Melinda Joyce St. Louis
Director de Global Trade Watch ( Public Citizen)
Sebastian Valdomir
MP
Ronalth Ochaeta
MP
Matt Kirkegaard
Political Coordinator of the Progressive International
Varsha Gandikota
General Coordinator of the Progressive International
David Adler
General Coordinator of the Progressive International