Trump Administration Considering Allowing Lawsuits For Seized Assets In Cuba

What Happened: On Wednesday, January 16, 2019, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo notified Congress that the Trump administration is suspending legislative authorization for lawsuits related to Cuban-seized property for 45 days, rather than the customary six months.

Bottom Line: As noted in our November 2018 Client Alert, the Trump administration is actively considering allowing lawsuits under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act. The Helms-Burton Act allows US nationals to sue foreign companies, individuals, and the Cuban government for property confiscated by the Cuban government. Since its passing in 1996, however, every presidential administration, including the current administration, has suspended the right to bring legal action.

The Full Story

The Helms-Burton Act (aka "The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996") was signed into law after the Cuban government shot down two planes belonging to Miami-based humanitarian international search-and-rescue support group Brothers to the Rescue, killing the four pilots and spotters aboard the aircrafts. The act codifies US sanctions against Cuba and grants US nationals the right to sue over property confiscated from them by the Castro regime since 1959. See 22 U.S.C.A. § 6081 ("To deter trafficking in wrongfully confiscated property, United States nationals who were the victims of these confiscations should be endowed with a judicial remedy in the courts of the United States that would deny traffickers any profits from economically exploiting Castro's wrongful seizures."). Under the act, the president of the United States has the authority to suspend the lawsuit provision (often called "Title III") for periods of six months, if the president determines it is "necessary to the national interests of the United States and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba." 22 U.S.C.A. § 6085.

In the 23 years since its passing, every administration has suspended the right to bring suit for the full six months, partially due to opposition from the international community (including pressure from trading partners like Mexico...