The United States Supreme Court agreed to review two cases related to the confiscation of properties in Cuba, including a demand for Exxon Mobil for its refinery and another of Havana Docks against cruise lines for the use of a dock in Havana.
The appeal of Exxon, presented after the expropriation of its refinery, terminals and 117 service stations after the triumph of the revolution in 1959, seeks compensation that, with triplicate interests and damages, could exceed billions of dollars, reports CNN.
In 1969, an American commission certified the losses of Standard Oil (today Exxon) at 72 million, part of the 1900 million in claims for 6 thousand people and companies.
The claim, enabled by the decision of the Trump administration in 2019 to raise the suspension of the law Helms-Burton From 1996, he faces legal obstacles for the immunity of foreign governments in US courts, a point that Exxon calls for clarifying, adds the medium.
On the other hand, Havana Docks claims hundreds of millions of dollars to cruise lines that, between 2015 and 2019, used a dock built by the company in 1905, confiscated by Cuba after the revolution.
The company alleges that the lines paid to the Cuban government at least 130 million dollars without their authorization. The shipping companies argue that the original agreement expired in 2004, before its operations in 2016.
“The Cuban government never paid any compensation for confiscated properties,” said Jeffrey Wall, a lawyer from Exxon, highlighting decades for justice.
No dates
The Supreme Court has not yet set dates for the hearings, and decisions could have global implications, according to Corporation Cimex, a demanded Cuban entity.
In 2019, the Cuban government requested before a court in Washington DC that dismissed the demand filed by Exxon against two entities of the island.
The Cuban order argued that the court lacks jurisdiction To carry out a judgment of this nature because Exxon’s demand is not covered by the Helms-Burton law, under which it has been framed.
This is because Cuban companies accused, although they can administer nationalized properties, do not obtain financial compensations outside the island for use.
The Helms-Burton authorizes Americans who own nationalized properties after January 1959, with a value greater than 50 thousand dollars, to demand in the United States courts just to foreign companies to use these properties and pay the Cuban government for the provision of those services. In addition, the demands must be certified by the US government.
