ExxonMobil files lawsuit in the U.S. against Cuban companies
U.S. oil giant ExxonMobil is filing a lawsuit today against two Cuban companies as a result of Donald Trump’s government’s decision to allow the application of Title III of the controversial Helms-Burton Act.
Two legal news services, Law360 and Courthouse News, reported that the company yesterday filed that action in federal court in Washington DC against Cimex Corporation SA, a Cuban state-owned business group; and the Cuba-Petroleum Union (Cupet).
The claim was filed on the same day the Republican President’s executive activated the aforementioned legislative section, which allows U.S. nationals to sue those who ‘traffic’ with ‘U.S. property’ in Cuba.
Through this mechanism, it is possible to bring an action in U.S. courts against persons and entities, even from third countries, who invest in Cuban territory in properties nationalized after the triumph of the Revolution on January 1, 1959.
Through the lawsuit, ExxonMobil indicated that it has a claim certified by the Commission for the Settlement of Foreign Claims for properties nationalized on the Island, ‘including oil refineries and service stations that are still in use today’.
He specifically mentioned Cupet’s use of the Ñico Lopez refinery and ‘certain terminals and plants used in conjunction with the operations’ of the facility.
The oil giant’s move joins two other lawsuits filed Thursday against cruise company Carnival Cruise Lines, located in the southern state of Florida, by claimants who identified themselves as ‘owners’ of the port of Santiago de Cuba and certain commercial real estate in the port of Havana.
In an interview with Prensa Latina, Carlos Fernández de Cossío, director general of the United States at the country’s foreign ministry, recalled that in the same year that the U.S. Congress gave the green light to Helms-Burton (1996), the Cuban Parliament approved a law that makes U.S. regulations inapplicable on the Island.
This is the Law of Reaffirmation of Cuban Dignity and Sovereignty or Law 80, which declared Helms-Burton illegal and without legal effect, so it considers null and void any claim under it.
Likewise, the Cuban official drew attention to the fact that this legislation also establishes that natural or juridical persons who wish to harm Cuba or harm third parties with claims under Helms-Burton will be excluded from any future negotiation of compensation for nationalized properties.
The Trump government’s decision to apply Title III despite the rejection of various U.S. sectors and many voices from the international community, is part of the current administration’s growing aggressiveness towards the Greatest of the Antilles, under the influence of figures such as National Security Advisor John Bolton and Republican Senator Marco Rubio.
(Taken from PL in Spanish)
Written by Radio Grito de Baire
