Order: Court dismissed dividend case by Las Margaritas

On July 10, 2023, the Fourteenth Civil Court of First Instance rejected the lawsuit filed by Avícola Las Margaritas, S.A., which sought to extinguish its dividend obligation to Lisa, S.A. by alleging prescription. The court ruled that the five-year prescription period never began to run because Lisa was legally barred from collecting the dividends due to precautionary embargoes placed on them. Notably, several of these embargoes were requested by the plaintiff itself or by its corporate predecessor, Compañía Alimenticia de Centroamérica, S.A.

The judge concluded that the existence of those judicial embargoes constituted a legal impediment—imposed by the creditor itself—which suspended the enforceability of the obligation. The ruling emphasized that Avícola Las Margaritas could have consigned the dividend amounts in good faith, but instead used its own embargoes to block payment and later claim prescription. As a result, the court dismissed the lawsuit and ordered Avícola Las Margaritas to pay court costs.