Congress Intended That Helms-Burton Act Lawsuits Target Foreign Companies. So Far They Haven't
In permitting Title III lawsuits for the first time, the Trump administration aimed to pressure foreign investors out of Cuba. But most of the defendants thus far have been U.S. companies whose activities only touch Cuba in a minor way.
April 22, 2020 at 05:57 PM
6 minute read
One year ago, the Trump administration announced the activation for the first time of a provision in the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 that allows U.S. nationals to sue companies that "traffic" in property expropriated by the Cuban government after the start of the Cuban Revolution. Congress enacted the provision, known as Title III, to allow "American citizens to recover damages from foreign investors who are profiting from their stolen property in Cuba." But Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama (and initially President Donald Trump) suspended application of Title III for more than 20 years from 1996 to 2019. Prior administrations (including the George W. Bush administration, in which I served as the legal adviser for the Department of State, where I was responsible for the implementation of the Helms-Burton Act) believed that activating Title III would produce a flood of complex lawsuits in U.S. courts and cause diplomatic friction with close allies.
In permitting Title III lawsuits for the first time, starting May 2, 2019, the Trump administration aimed to pressure foreign investors out of Cuba and thereby starve the regime of resources. The administration may also have expected to score political points by allowing Americans—especially Cuban Americans in Florida—to sue foreign companies in U.S. courts. But the actual result has been different: the majority of defendants in the lawsuits filed so far have been U.S. companies whose activities touch Cuba only in some minor way, rather than the Cuban companies or foreign companies that now own, lease or operate property in Cuba. Title III's activation, in short, has been a failure and should be reversed.
Congress passed the Helms-Burton Act, also known as the "Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act," to increase the economic isolation of the Cuban government and encourage the ouster of Fidel Castro. In addition to Title III, the act codifies executive branch sanctions prohibiting U.S. companies from doing most business in Cuba. Title IV directs the secretary of state to deny U.S. visas to directors, officers and controlling shareholders of companies that traffic in confiscated property.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
Law Firms Mentioned
Trending Stories
- 1The Law Firm Disrupted: For Big Law Names, Shorter is Sweeter
- 2Wine, Dine and Grind (Through the Weekend): Summer Associates Thirst For Experience in 'Real Matters'
- 3'That's Disappointing': Only 11% of MDL Appointments Went to Attorneys of Color in 2023
- 4What We Know About the Kentucky Judge Killed in His Chambers
- 5'I'm Staying Everything': Texas Bankruptcy Judge Halts Talc Trials Against J&J
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250