Public-private partnerships (PPPs) are a widespread tool for collaboration between a government agency and a private sector company and are used to finance large-scale public projects such as transportation networks, renewable energy and/or other infrastructure related projects. The government agency and the private-sector company come together to sponsor and build the project with shared risks … Read more

Following an unexpected electoral victory on April 11, 2021, conservative candidate Guillermo Lasso assumed office as President of Ecuador yesterday. Markets welcomed Lasso’s victory when the election results were announced in April, as sovereign bonds rose to their highest point since September 2020. Lasso’s electoral campaign focused on creating employment through foreign investment, expanding investments … Read more

On 23 January 2019, after Nicolas Maduro began his second term as Venezuela’s president, the Venezuelan opposition leader Juan Guaidó proclaimed himself Venezuela’s “acting president” and swore himself as interim president of Venezuela.  Following Guaidó’s declaration, more than 50 countries, including the United States, Canada, several EU Member States, and various Latin American countries, recognized … Read more

On February 1, 2021, Mexican President Andrés Manuel Lopez Obrador submitted to Congress an initiative (the “Initiative”) to amend the Electric Power Industry Law. The Initiative appears to be part of the current administration’s plan to reverse the Energy Reform introduced by former president Enrique Peña Nieto in 2013 (“the Energy Reform”) that liberalized the … Read more

Fighting climate change is a particularly relevant goal for Latin America since it is home to half of the planet’s biodiversity and over a quarter of its forests.[1]  It therefore does not come as a surprise that all the Latin American and Caribbean countries ratified the Paris Agreement between 2016 and 2018.  The Paris Agreement … Read more

On January 11, the US Department of State (“State Department”) re-designated Cuba to the US State Sponsors of Terrorism List (“SST List”) for “repeatedly providing support for acts of international terrorism in granting safe harbor to terrorists.” Notably, the Trump administration announced the decision shortly before the inauguration of President-elect Biden. The decision to re-designate … Read more

On November 30, OFAC designated China National Electronics Import and Export Corporation (“CEIEC”) to its Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons list (“SDN List”). The OFAC press release is available here. CEIEC is a Chinese state-owned technology corporation. According to its website, CEIEC claims that it is a “close partner of many foreign government[s], military and security … Read more

On November 17, OFAC issued General License 8G, Authorizing Transactions Involving Petróleos de Venezuela, S.A. (“PdVSA”) Necessary for the Limited Maintenance of Essential Operations in Venezuela or the Wind Down of Operations in Venezuela for Certain Entities (“GL 8G.”). GL 8G, like its predecessor General License No. 8F (“GL 8F”), authorizes several  US energy companies to engage … Read more