MIAMI (AP) — People who lost properties after the Cuban revolution hope that, starting Thursday, they will be able to sue European and American companies doing business on their former properties.
That’s thanks to the Trump administration’s decision to activate a provision of the U.S. embargo on Cuba with the potential to affect foreign investment in Cuba for years to come.
Known as Title III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, the section allows Americans, and Cubans who later become Americans, to sue almost any company deemed to be “trafficking” in property confiscated by Cuba’s government. Every president since the law’s passage has suspended Title III because of objections from U.S. allies doing business in Cuba and because of the potential effect on future negotiated settlements between the U.S. and Cuba.