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Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart announced that, along with legislators Debbie Wasserman Schultz, María Elvira Salazar, Carlos A. Giménez, Lois Frankel, and Nicole Malliotakis, he submitted a bipartisan amicus brief to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case Havana Docks Corp. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., et al.
According to the statement published on his website, the document emphasizes the foreign policy implications related to Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act (Helms-Burton Act), which allows individuals whose properties were confiscated by the Castro regime to sue companies that intentionally traffic in those assets.
The document urges the Court to ensure that the victims of these unjust confiscations can seek justice in the courts of the United States, as mandated by Congress when it passed the law in 1996.
"For over 60 years, the regime in Cuba has stolen properties, enriched itself while unscrupulous companies benefit from the confiscation of those assets, and has denied justice to its victims," said Díaz-Balart.
"The United States Congress enacted the LIBERTAD Act to hold the Cuban regime accountable and to ensure that those who were dispossessed of their properties have a legal pathway to obtain justice," emphasized the congressman.
"It also warns foreign companies that they will be held accountable for profiting from stolen goods while financing the Castro regime," he added.
Between December 2015 and June 2019, four cruise lines made profits by using the confiscated property of Havana Docks, transporting nearly a million tourists to the lands where their ships docked.
According to information presented in lower courts, these companies received over 1 billion dollars for these trips, while the Cuban regime collected more than 130 million in fees and taxes.
In January, the United States government reactivated Title III of the Helms-Burton Act and expanded the list of restricted Cuban entities, as part of a tougher policy towards the Cuban regime.
"The Trump administration is restoring a tough policy towards Cuba that protects the United States and helps the Cuban people. We have kept Cuba on the list of state sponsors of terrorism—where it belongs—and have taken other measures. The oppression of the Cuban regime against its people and its malevolent actions must end," stated Secretary of State Marco Rubio.
In that regard, the Supreme Court of the United States announced in October that it would hear the case presented by ExxonMobil against Cuban state entities to demand compensation for the expropriation of its oil and gas assets in 1960, at the beginning of the Revolution.
The process would rely precisely on Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows lawsuits against companies and individuals who benefit from properties confiscated by the Cuban regime after 1959, reported the Reuters agency.
The court accepted Exxon’s appeal following an unfavorable ruling in lower courts, which had restricted its efforts to recover compensation valued at over 700 million dollars.
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