The US Supreme Court will hear arguments this Monday in two cases focused on the Helms-Burton Act, one related to ExxonMobil and another with the shipping companies Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribbean Group, Norwegian Cruise Line and MSC Cruises, according to reports from Reuters and Latin Press.
According to Latin Pressthe hearing reflects a “legal war” against Cuba.
Coinciding with the hearing, a peaceful protest was called at the United Methodist Building, near the court, to denounce “the oil war against Cuba and Exxon’s lawfare attack.”
United States Supreme Court will review lawsuits against Cuba for expropriations
The Exxon case refers to the expropriation of its refinery – today Ñico López –, terminals and 117 service stations after the triumph of the Revolution in 1959.
The lawsuit was filed in 2019, after President Donald Trump’s Administration activated Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, enacted in 1996 by then-President Bill Clinton.
Exxon wants billions for expropriation of the Ñico López refinery
According to ReutersExxon’s appeal could involve awards that, with trebled interest and damages, would exceed billions of dollars.
In 1969, a US commission certified losses by Standard Oil (now Exxon) at $72 million, as part of $1.9 billion in claims from some 6,000 people and companies.
The case faces Legal obstacles linked to the immunity of foreign governments in US courtsa point that Exxon requests clarification.
In parallel, Havana Docks demands hundreds of millions of dollars to shipping companies for the use, between 2015 and 2019, of a dock built in 1905 and confiscated after the Revolution.
The company maintains that the companies paid the Cuban government at least $130 million without its authorization, while the shipping companies allege that the original agreement expired in 2004.
Although the news It was announced last October.when the US Supreme Court agreed to review two cases related to the confiscation of properties in Cuba, it is not until this Monday that the arguments of both cases will be heard.
The Cuban Government takes its diplomatic offensive against the US oil blockade to the UN
The US, Helms-Burton and Cuba’s response
Latin Press recalled that in 2019 the cuban government He asked a court in Washington DC to dismiss Exxon’s lawsuit against entities on the island.
Then the island’s government argued lack of jurisdiction, since the accused Cuban companies do not obtain financial compensation outside the country for the use of nationalized properties.
Likewise, the media pointed out that on January 29, Trump issued an executive order that described Cuba as an “extraordinary and unusual threat” and threatened to impose tariffs on countries that supply fuel to the island, a measure that shows the extraterritoriality of the blockade.
During the demonstration called in Washington, among others, Paul Coates, Blake Burdge, Leonardo Flores, Basev Sen, Rev. Nozomi Ikuta and Cheryl LaBash.
There they will announce actions so that American citizens can contribute to confronting the humanitarian situation generated by the measures adopted by the United States Government without approval from Congress.
