The spokesperson of the Cuban regime and presenter of the state television, Humberto López, traveled to London to report on the developments of the judicial process taking place in the Court of Appeal of the United Kingdom in the case of the litigation between the Cuban government and the investment fund CRF Limited I.
According to recent statements from the National Bank of Cuba (BNC), the court is examining new details regarding the case that pits the investment fund (referred to as a "vulture fund" by the official Cuban media) against the state banking entity of Cuba, and which determines whether CRF I Limited was or was not a creditor of it.
"Since the beginning of the process, initiated in the English courts by the vulture fund with the aim of claiming a right it does not possess, the National Bank of Cuba has maintained that this economic entity is not its creditor, and therefore, there is no reason to support such a position," stated the BNC in its statements.
In front of the headquarters of the Court of Appeals of the United Kingdom, López recalled that “last year a ruling favored the Republic of Cuba, the Cuban state, as part of this lawsuit in which the vulture fund sought to involve our country.”
"The ruling allowed the court to exclude the Cuban government from the lawsuit and... well... keep the National Bank of Cuba," reiterated the regime's spokesperson in their report from the British capital.
However, López's interpretation of the ruling issued in June 2023 by Judge Sara Cockerill, of the Commercial Court of the High Court of London, is incorrect and conveys a biased view of its content, focusing on what the regime considers a "victory" by disconnecting the ruling against the Cuban state from the banking entity.
In another reading of the same ruling, the specialized site Cuban Trade highlighted that Cockerill's decision was an important step forward for CRF and limited Cuba's defensive options. The so-called "London Trial" determines whether the venture capital fund CRF I Limited is a legitimate creditor of a Cuban debt of 75 million dollars.
Additionally, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, through ICBC Standard Bank, custodian of the Cuban assets of CFR, declared in June of last year that it had initiated legal proceedings against Cuba for approximately 1.1 billion euros, with the aim of defending the interests of the investment fund.
With his back to the procedural evidence, López reiterated the official Cuban version that "there is no commitment of the State's assets in relation to this process."
"What is happening at this moment is a jurisdiction trial to determine, in a future process, whether the English courts and the jurisdiction of this country can or cannot hear the substance of the lawsuit," the presenter explained.
López revealed that in London is the president minister of the BNC, Juana Lilia Delgado, "accompanied by representatives of Spanish and English lawyers who have been participating in each of the exchanges that take place basically from a dialogue between the barristers of each of the parties."
"The barrister is that specialized lawyer who has the capacity to converse with the judges. Well, the barristers of each party hold this exchange with the judges separately, not between themselves, and then Cuba has had the opportunity to make a sort of rebuttal," he explained.
According to López, the arguments of the Cuban regime "are based on proving that last year's judge was mistaken in not observing the evidence that the National Bank of Cuba presented to demonstrate that this vulture fund is completely unrelated to its financial instruments."
"In other words, he has never been and is not a creditor of the National Bank of Cuba. This means that, not being a creditor, he could not develop a process in another court later to analyze the substance of the matter," said the television presenter confusingly, acknowledging the "complexity" of the issue.
Aware of his convoluted explanation, López roughly summarized Cuba's position in the dispute. "Here we are analyzing whether another court can address the substance of the matter, [which is] whether the debt should be paid or not. What Cuba says is 'I have nothing to discuss with the vulture fund, it is not my creditor and has never been."
In January 2023, the official newspaper Granma summarized it with these words: The possible decision of the English court will have no implications for the Cuban economy, because "it is a procedural issue of jurisdiction, which means that, under no circumstances, will financial amounts of the debt be discussed in this hearing."
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