The Cuban government counterattackedlawsuit by oil corporation Exxon Mobil under the Helms-Burton Act and defended the shipments of remittances from the United States as a management unrelated to the trafficking of confiscated properties on the island, according to documents presented in a federal court in Washington DC.
In a1,919 page response, Lawyers representing state entities CIMEX (Cuba and Panama) and CUPET argued that remittances sent by Western Union and distributed by the financial company FINCIMEX within Cuba are outside the legal scope of the plaintiff's claim.
"None of the Cuban companies request or promote Western Union remittances or have contact with their clients. FINCIMEX is the representative of Western Union in Cuba; contrary to what it seems, Western Union is not the representative of FINCIMEX in the United States, nor does it have any obligation to FINCIMEX to generate remittances or perform any other function other than paying it for services provided in Cuba," indicates the motion filed by the law firm Rabinowitz, Boudin, Standard, Krinsky & Lieberman, based in New York.
The document emphasizes that CIMEX-Cuba is not part of the agreement with Western Union, established with FINCIMEX since 1999.
The legal action by the Cuban government was presented on June 16 to respond to an appeal by Exxon Mobil's lawyers as part of the prolonged process that has involved both parties since May 2019. The case is assigned to federal judge Amit Mehta in the District of Columbia court.
The dispute takes on special interest at times when theDepartment of State has included FINCIMEX on the Cuban Restricted Entities List (CRL) due to its membership in the military conglomerate GAESA, which could affect its agreement with Western Union and the issuance of remittances to the island. None of the 235 entities that make up the CRL can negotiate with citizens or companies under US jurisdiction.
Lawyers for Exxon Mobil have outlined the claim arguing that CIMEX and CUPET are using confiscated property to facilitate the transfer of funds in remittances from the United States to the island, and allege that the entire process is "strictly controlled by the government through the Central Bank of Cuba".
The State Department sanctioned FINCIMEX on June 3, but due to an involuntary omission it did notofficially incorporated it into the list of the Federal Register until last Friday.The measure is already in force, although the Treasury Department is the body in charge of issuing the regulations to apply the sanction.
A Treasury official toldCyberCuba that the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has not yet finalized the new regulations. A Western Union spokesman declined to comment on the matter.
Protected by Title III of the Helms-Burton Act,Exxon Mobil claims CIMEX AND CUPET about $280 million dollars for losses associated with the forced expropriation of EssoSA (formerly Standard Oil) facilities by the Fidel Castro regime, in 1960.
According to the American corporation,The Cuban government expropriated a maritime terminal, 109 storage tanks with a capacity of 2.4 million barrels, as well asseven packaging plants and 117 service station properties that added up thenworth $72 million dollars.
The company, the main oil producer in the United States, is one of the 5,913 certified by the Foreign Claims Adjudication Commission of the Department of Justice, which means that it has the endorsement to take legal action seeking compensation from the Cuban government. In fact, Exxon Mobil's lawsuit through the Helms-Burton Act is the only one that has received a response from Cuban authorities in US courts.
The recent legal counteroffensive by the Cuban government reinforces aprevious motion to dismiss the lawsuit, and includes a voluminous file with testimonies from Cuban experts and officials, as well as extensive historical documentation on laws and events related to the case. Among the sworn statements is that ofMali Suris Valmaña, Director of Legal Assistance of the CIMEX corporation and secretary of the executive board of CIMEX and CIMEX-Panama.
"FINCIMEX is a public limited company organized under Cuban law, separate from CIMEX-Cuba and CIMEX-Panama with its own assets and legal personality. It maintains its own books and records, separate from the books and records of any other entity," said Suris. Valmaña in a33 page statement. "FINCIMEX does not have: subsidiaries, divisions, branches, offices, officers, employees, agents or representatives in the United States; nor bank accounts in the United States or with US banks."
The official adds in her testimony that FINCIMEX does not carry out any commercial activity in the United States, nor does it import or export products.
or services to or from US territory. He also assures that the financial company does not have contracts with US companies, and "it is not a division of CIMEX-Cuba or CIMEX-Panama."
However, the lawyer admits that the president of FINCIMEX is also the president of CIMEX-Cuba and CIMEX-Panama. Although it is not mentioned in the document, it is theColonel Héctor Oroza Busutil.
Lawyer and political analyst Sergio Comas considers that the Cuban government's response has had to juggle to explain before the US court a false independence of state institutions with respect to the Cuban government.
"If the Cuban government is the owner of CIMEX-Cuba, and CIMEX-CUBA is the majority shareholder of CIMEX-Panama, by transitory logic FINCIMEX is a Public Limited Company acquired by Cuba to evade the financial and commercial embargo of the United States... "You don't have to have much lucidity to reach that obvious conclusion," said Comas, who resides in Miami.
The court document explains that FINCIMEX maintains the sitewww.aisremesascuba.com, hosted outside the United States through which people from any country in the world can send remittances to individuals in Cuba. The platform receives requests from more than 80 countries to pay amounts of money to recipients on the island, with the use of the AIS electronic card.
The explanation responds to allegations in aprior motion from Exxon Mobil attorneys, who questioned that FINCIMEX has a monopoly on the operation of the AIS card, as well as control of the international cards Visa, Mastercard and CABAL.
"Defendants' remittance business takes place in the United States because U.S. dollars are transferred by persons located in the United States using agent locations in the United States," said the motion filed by Exxon last March.
Cuba receives approximately $3.6 billion US dollars in remittances and it is estimated that 90% of shipments come from the United States.
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