The Helms-Burton Act, Title III: another example of U.S. hypocrisy

Abstract

While it has been condemned by most U.N. member states, the U.S. continues to expand its illegal blockade against Cuba. Title III of the Helms-Burton Act of 1996 authorizes U.S. nationals to sue in U.S. courts “any person” who “traffics” in property nationalized by Cuba on or after January 1, 1959. Past U.S. Presidents suspended Title III due to international opposition, but in 2019 President Trump lifted the suspension (continued by President Biden) to allow Title III lawsuits to proceed. Forty-four lawsuits have been filed in U.S. courts. Most suits have targeted U.S. corporations. In 2022, a U.S. court in Florida awarded $439 million to Havana Docks Corporation against four cruise lines for using the Havana port 2016-2019. Expropriation and nationalization are permitted by international law with compensation. Cuba negotiated compensation settlements with all but the U.S., which refused Cuba’s attempts to negotiate. In the U.S., expropriation is a regular occurrence called “eminent domain”. The U.S. Constitution's allows the government to take private property, with just compensation, for “public use,” now expanded by U.S. courts to include taking of private property for private use.  U.S. examples abound where persons are forced from homes, land and small business, without just compensation, to allow corporate development. Rather than continue a policy of hypocrisy, the U.S. government should honor the U.N. Charter and cease ignoring the General Assembly’s three-decade demand for an end to the illegal blockade against Cuba.