The legal hits on Cuba’s corrupt and murderous Castro dictatorship began yesterday, May 2nd, and they will likely continue coming for the foreseeable future. When you hold up an entire island at gunpoint and steal absolutely everything, it eventually catches up to you. In Cuba’s case, it took nearly sixty years.
On Thursday, Exxon filed a lawsuit in U.S. court against the Cuban dictatorship for property in Cuba the Castro regime stole from them in 1960. Since then, the Castro family dictatorship has been making millions from the theft.
Exxon Files Suit Over Cuban Revolution Land Grab
In a federal lawsuit filed Thursday, ExxonMobil alleged that Cuban entities have been using and profiting off of its property in Cuba, which was seized by Fidel Castro’s regime in 1960.
The lawsuit was made possible by the Trump administration’s recent decision to fully lift the suspension of a provision of a 1996 law known as the Helms-Burton Act that allows Cuban refugees to file lawsuits over property confiscated during the 1959 Cuban Revolution.
Since the ban was enacted in 1996, Bill Clinton and every president since have suspended the portion of the law that would allow U.S. companies to sue for lost property in order to avoid international tension.
The suspension, however, was fully lifted Thursday under the direction of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. At a press event in April, Pompeo said the move would hold “the Cuban government accountable for seizing American assets.”
Exxon, represented by Steven Davidson of Steptoe & Johnson, is seeking more than $71.6 million, plus interest, for profits lost since the 1960 seizure.
Its complaint alleges that the Cuban Export-Import Corporation (CIMEX) and the Cuba Oil Union (CUPET) have been using the U.S. company’s land since it was confiscated. Further, it states that both state-owned entities have profited off the seizure by continuing to use Exxon’s property to refine oil and sell it.
“CIMEX and CUPET have generated revenues, obtained profits and realized other benefits from these activities,” the complaint states, noting that they did so without permission from Exxon.
According to the complaint, the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission found that Exxon has proven ownership of its property under the International Claims Settlement Act. Hence, according to the act, the state-run Cuban companies are liable for “trafficking” the confiscated property.
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