The United States Supreme Court has ruled that ExxonMobil can sue Cuban state-owned companies in US courts over property on the island nation that was seized after Fidel Castro took power.
The 6-3 decision on Tuesday was the second in as many months in favor of US owners of Cuban property that was confiscated by the Communist government more than 65 years ago.
The outcome in the two cases could be an additional lever for the administration of US President Donald Trump to exert pressure on Cuba, which is already being squeezed by a US oil embargo.
At issue was whether the 1996 law known as Helms-Burton removes the shield from lawsuits in US courts that typically cover foreign countries and state-owned businesses. The justices reversed a lower-court ruling that found that the Cuban state-owned companies are immune from lawsuits in US courts.
The court said a legal defense called foreign sovereign immunity, which generally prohibits US lawsuits against foreign governments and their agents, is not available in cases like the one ExxonMobil brought against Cuban state-owned firm Corporacion CIMEX.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh, who authored the ruling, wrote that the 30-year-old federal law eliminates “the sovereign immunity of Cuban agencies and instrumentalities”.
The court’s six conservative justices were in the majority. Justice Elena Kagan wrote a dissent that was joined by the court’s two other liberal members. Kagan argued that plaintiffs should be required to show their suit was exempt from the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
ExxonMobil is seeking compensation for the confiscation of assets owned by subsidiaries of Standard Oil, ExxonMobil’s predecessor, including more than 100 service stations and an oil refinery.
Last month, the court ruled in another case involving confiscated property in Cuba, reviving claims by a US company that operated docks in Havana against four cruise lines that brought tourists to Cuba during the brief thaw in relations under former President Barack Obama.
Congress passed the law in response to the 1996 downing of civilian planes flown by Miami-based exiles. Title III allows Americans to sue almost any company that engages in commercial activity or benefits from property confiscated by Cuba’s government.
Before the first Trump administration, every president had suspended the provision due to objections from US allies doing business in Cuba. But Trump lifted the suspension in 2019, and ExxonMobil filed its lawsuit the same day against CIMEX.
The US Foreign Claims Settlement Commission valued ExxonMobil’s property in Cuba at $71.6 million in 1969, plus 6% annual interest from 1960, now worth about $3 billion with treble damages. Nearly 6,000 individuals and businesses held claims worth $1.9 billion before interest.
Source: www.aljazeera.com