Fidel Castro, Cuban revolutionary leader
The Helms-Burton Act, signed by President Clinton in 1996, allows all U.S. owners of properties seized by the Castro government in Cuba to sue for compensation from the current foreign (non-Cuban) owners of these properties. These properties were generally seized between the years 1959-1961.
The enforcement of this Act was suspended by subsequent presidents for diplomatic reasons, and President Obama was particularly interested in normalizing relations with Cuba. Also, foreign ownership of Cuban properties was not allowed until Cuba’s Foreign Investment Act of 2014.
Now there is a new fearless leader, President Donald Trump, who has declared the Act to be enforceable. This will be fun for any appraiser who appraises in Cuba.
The first defendants in these actions have been Carnival Cruise Lines and French distiller Pernod Ricard. Other foreign rum distillers are also involved.
This Act benefits U.S. corporations, as well as Cuban exile families who are now U.S. citizens, basically the children and grandchildren of the original Cuban property owners who lost their properties to the Castro Revolution and fled to the United States. (Carnival, however, is an American corporation that did not exist at the time of the Castro revolution.)
The Helms-Burton Act, which is rather vague in its language, suggests that the plaintiffs are entitled to 3 x the value of the property at the time of its taking by the Castro regime, to be paid by the current non-Cuban owner of the property, so the litigation only makes sense for large properties not inhabited or owned by Cubans. Valuations at the time of the taking of a property are consistent with eminent domain theory throughout the world.
The lawsuits will be tried in U.S. civil courts and not involve the Cuban government as a co-defendant. Foreign owners face severe penalties in the U.S. if they do not pay the judgment.
There are about 6000 government-certified claims so far.
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