Introduction

This essay is primarily a critical assessment of the policies and politics associated with the Calvo Doctrine as it emerged in the late XIX Century; grew in acceptance in Latin America during most of the XX Century; was superseded by investment treaties in the 1990s; and is now being rediscovered in the early years of this century. A reassessment of the Calvo Doctrine on its merits is particularly appropriate now, as the doctrine is being rediscovered and inserted in the contemporary debate on investment treaties. It will no longer do to treat the doctrine with uncritical ...