American Airlines and Iberostar reached confidential agreements to settle the lawsuits filed against them under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act for the use of confiscated properties in Cuba, according to information first reported on Saturday by the U.S.-Cuba Economic and Trade Council.
Both agreements had remained undisclosed to the public until that moment, despite having been formalized months in advance.
American Airlines reached its agreement on February 19, 2026, with the plaintiff José Ramón López Regueiro, son of José López Vilaboy, a Cuban businessman who acquired the land of José Martí International Airport in Havana from Pan American Airways in 1952 for 1.5 million dollars.
López Vilaboy modernized the runway and built the airport terminal, which was confiscated without compensation after the triumph of the Cuban Revolution in January 1959.
The lawsuit, filed in 2019 by the Rivero Mestre LLP law firm in Miami, accused the airline of "trafficking" that confiscated property by operating regular flights to Havana airport.
The case was initially dismissed with prejudice on June 30, 2022, but the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ordered in August 2025 that the district court continue with the litigation, which eventually led to the settlement.
Iberostar, for its part, reached its agreement during a mediation held on August 25, 2025, with the dismissal order issued on September 9 of that year by Senior Judge Robert N. Scola Jr. of the Southern District of Florida.
The lawsuit against the Spanish hotel chain was filed on January 8, 2020, by the heirs of Dolores Martí Mercade and Fernando Canto Bory, the original owners of a hotel called El Imperial in Santiago de Cuba, which is now renamed as Iberostar Heritage Imperial.
Iberostar operates in Cuba in partnership with Gaviota, the military-owned tourism company of the Cuban regime.
The Iberostar case also had a significant international dimension: the European Union intervened in the process, marking the first time a U.S. court recognized the EU's interest in Title III lawsuits under the Helms-Burton Act.
The news of the agreements adds to the growing uncertainty for foreign companies in Cuba, after the Trump administration intensified pressure on the regime and threatened sanctions against companies and foreign banks that partner with it.
On May 7, Washington imposed sanctions on GAESA —the Cuban military conglomerate— and its president, Ania Lastres Morera, prompting the Canadian mining company Sherritt International to announce the suspension of its operations on the island.
The same plaintiff, López Regueiro, filed a similar lawsuit in November 2025 against Delta Air Lines for operating at Havana airport, in which Delta requested dismissal, arguing that its flights had been authorized by the federal government since 2016.
Meanwhile, two similar lawsuits —one against four cruise companies for their use of the port of Havana and another related to Cimex and GAESA— are currently before the U.S. Supreme Court, which held oral hearings on February 23 and a ruling is expected soon.
Experts believe that a ruling in favor of the plaintiffs could further discourage foreign investors from doing business in Cuba until the claims are resolved through negotiations between both governments.
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