Cuban Americans may finally have their day in court
Excerpt: The White House will allow Americans to file suit in U.S courts against about 200 Cuban companies that now control property on the island that was seized by the Havana government decades ago.
But the Trump administration stopped short of allowing Americans to sue foreign companies, delaying that measure by at least 30 days as Washington tries to see what levers it should pull to build international support for a U.S. pressure campaign against Venezuela.
Those who pushed back at the State Department have raised concerns about the potential burden on U.S. courts and increased tensions between European allies and others who have criticized the extra-territorial application of the law.
Lawyers say an unknown number of Cuban Americans, whose properties were confiscated before they became naturalized as U.S. citizens, could also sue.
Bottom Line: It’s been a long time coming for many Cuban families. For those of us on the outside looking in, its unimaginable what it must have been like to go from owning a home and a business to becoming a refugee as you had everything stolen from you by Fidel Casto’s communist regime. The stories are endless and all incredibly tragic. During Fidel’s raid of private property more than 55,000 businesses were seized or shutdown and 360,000 Cubans fled for the United States in the process (in the initial exile during Castro’s raid). Often only with what they had on them.
For families victimized and robbed by the government decades ago the first step towards potential justice is opening up with this State Department decision. It’s unclear exactly how this story will go but one potential outcome is that companies with international interests that benefit from Cuban operations will be libel to victims' families. That’d potentially lead to one of two outcomes. The entities cutting ties with the Cuban government/economy and/or actual restitution being rewarded. The wheels of justice move slowly. I’d expect this would especially be slow. But it’s better slow and late than never. More to come.