February 21, 2023, Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy (LA) and U.S. Representative Maria Elvira Salazar (FL-27) responded quickly to reports of a high-level effort to influence the newly appointed Honduran Supreme Court to criminalize ZEDE investors and overturn settled law upholding the ZEDE investment framework.
In their correspondence to Honduran President Xiomara Castro, the Senator and Congresswoman wrote:
Threats of wholesale elimination of the ZEDE legal framework and harassment of lawful investors are exactly the type of actions which have kept Honduras with a large informal economy and increased irregular migration; and are actions the Americas Act would seek to eliminate; but also which would make Honduras ineligible for Americas Act accession when that becomes law.
The referenced “Americas Act” is proposed legislation that would refocus U.S. foreign and economic policy on stabilizing Latin America through developing new opportunities for investment, economic growth, and job creation in the Western Hemisphere. Senator Cassidy, who is a member of the Senate Committee on Finance, and Representative Salazar, who is the Chairwoman of the House Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, are also the authors of the Americas Act. Their statement that eliminating the ZEDE legal framework would render “Honduras ineligible for Americas Act accession” echoes the public policy advanced by the Protect U.S. Investments Act (H.R. 465), which is cosponsored by Representatives Paul Gosar (AZ-9), Eli Crane (AZ-2), and Rick Crawford (AR-1), whereby visas and remittances would be denied to foreign public officials who expropriate U.S. investments or fail to consult with U.S investors to resolve investment disputes.
With their formal warning to the Government of Honduras, Senator Cassidy and Representative Salazar have joined Senators Ben Cardin (MD) and Bill Hagerty (TN), as well as Representative Chip Roy (TX-21) in publicly expressing grave concerns about efforts by the Castro Administration to undermine treaty-backed guarantees of legal stability for U.S. ZEDE investments.
When legal stability guarantees backed by investment treaties are in play, it is not surprising that growing numbers of U.S. lawmakers insist that any change in policy must be consistent with international law, treaty obligations, and investor reliance. These concerns recognize that stabilizing Latin America and improving the lives of everyday Hondurans will require extraordinary levels of investment. Breaking solemn sovereign promises will chill future American investment not only in Honduras, but also throughout Latin America.
In view of such well-founded concerns about rash efforts to extinguish U.S. ZEDE investments, Honduras Próspera Inc. remains hopeful that reasonable people will prevail in the Castro Administration; and that the newly appointed members of the Honduran Supreme Court will resist efforts to undermine their independence.
Read also:
Senator Cassidy and Rep Salazar letter to Honduras
National Security Congressmen Join Protect U.S. Investments Movement
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