US Court throws out gold concessions case: Minister Ramirez did not execute the waiver of sovereign immunity!

The problem surfaced two weeks ago when Manhattan federal Judge Naomi Buchwald threw out a lawsuit filed against Venezuela by two Latin American companies who for years had gold and diamond mining concessions along the nation's Caroní River.
The companies sued here in 2007 for about $200 million in compensation after Venezuela seized the mining rights for a hydroelectric project.
Buchwald tossed the case after she determined that a document, in which Venezuela purportedly agreed to be sued in Manhattan, contained a government minister's signature in which there was 'compelling evidence of fraud' about the way it was affixed to the paper.
'We find it considerably more probable than not that Minister Ramirez did not execute the waiver of sovereign immunity and, accordingly, dismiss the action,' said Buchwald in her decision.
Buchwald didn't use the word 'forgery,' but she referred to allegations by Venezuela's attorneys and document experts that the signature was 'likely' a forgery. But what seemed to be convincing to the court was an affidavit submitted by Ramirez, who is now Chavez's minister of energy and petroleum, in which he flatly denied signing the waiver.