Mexico to Appeal Landmark Ruling

ORANGE COUNTY, CA-A high-ranking official in the Mexican government says his nation will appeal a world tribunal’s potentially far-reaching order that would force Mexico to pay $16.7 million to a California company that built a $20-million project south of the border but then was prevented from opening it.

Luis de la Calle, Mexico’s Deputy Secretary of Commerce, says his government will submit its challenge to the ruling to another international tribunal in Vancouver by the end of November. Last week’s ruling was issued by a panel in Washington, D.C. that was comprised of one expert from the US, a second from Mexico and a third from England.

Legal experts say last week’s ruling is the first legal victory favoring a US investor under the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement. If the ruling stands, it could force the Mexican government to do a better job of sticking to written contracts and international laws, which at times have been broken by local officials in Mexico.