Related videos:
Delta Air Lines requested a federal court in the United States to dismiss the lawsuit filed against it under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act for operating flights to José Martí International Airport in Havana.
The airline filed a motion on April 28 before the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, claiming that the lawsuit brought by José Ramón López Regueiro "is legally barred on multiple levels" and lacks legal basis.
The plaintiff accuses Delta of "trafficking" in properties confiscated in Cuba by operating out of the Havana airport, under the Liberty Law (Helms-Burton), which allows for claims in U.S. courts for assets nationalized after the Cuban Revolution.
However, the company argued that the United States government expressly approved its regular flights to Havana since 2016, and therefore its operations were conducted in accordance with U.S. federal policy.
"The activities described in the lawsuit correspond solely to legal trips to Cuba authorized by federal orders," Delta stated in the court document.
The airline also noted that López Regueiro would have acquired any possible rights to the property after the legal deadline set on March 12, 1996, which would invalidate his claim. According to Delta, documents attached to the complaint itself show that the plaintiff did not have control over the alleged claim before 2010.
Another central argument of the defense is that Delta has a claim certified by the U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (FCSC) related to properties confiscated in Cuba, including offices at the Havana airport, following the nationalizations carried out by the Cuban government in 1962.
The company stated that the Helms-Burton Act was specifically designed to protect holders of certified claims and not to allow lawsuits against it by individuals with uncertified claims.
Furthermore, Delta questioned the constitutionality of the judicial mechanism of the Helms-Burton Act itself, arguing that Congress cannot create a cause of action whose enforcement can be suspended at the discretion of the President of the United States.
The lawsuit against Delta is part of a series of litigations initiated in U.S. courts under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act against companies linked to operations on properties nationalized by the regime in Cuba.
Filed under: