A prior post reported that the Trump Administration was considering not continuing the waiver of the right of certain owners of Cuban property that was expropriated in 1959-60 to bring litigation in U.S. federal courts. Here are two updates.
First, Engage Cuba, an U.S. bipartisan coalition supporting normalization of U.S.-Cuba relations, published a strong objection to such a move.[1] Here are the reasons for its objection:
- “There are 5,913 certified claims of seized American property in Cuba . . . [and] the State Department estimates that a flood of up to 200,000 claims if the suspension [of the right to sue] were ended.”
- “Property claimants would be more successful in earning compensation through high-level diplomatic engagement, given that foreign companies are unlikely to cooperate.“
- “Future attempts to encourage legal business with Cuba would be much more difficult . . . [and the authorization of U.S. litigation] would have a chilling effect on the broader effort to continue normalizing relations and could spill into other areas like travel, academic exchange, and research collaboration.”
- “As U.S companies are not exempt from Title III suits, they could face a slew of lawsuits and would be extremely unlikely to expand operations in Cuba despite their past success on the island.”
- “Companies based in Europe and Canada are among the top foreign investors in Cuba [and] Canada, the U.K. [and Mexico] all have laws prohibiting their companies from complying with Title III suits . . .[plus the] European Union . . . has indicated it will do [the same] . . . if the law goes into effect. The result could be a retaliatory measure that allows litigation against U.S. companies. These legal tensions could also spill over into other aspects of bilateral relationships with U.S. allies.”
- “Thousands of U.S. lawsuits against Chinese companies could upset an already delicate trade relationship and provoke retaliation. Meanwhile, the U.S. has already left a vacuum in Cuba for adversarial influence, particularly from Russia and China. As business with U.S. companies becomes less viable for the Cubans, they will increasingly turn to our adversaries, who offer them favorable credit terms and invest in high-profile projects.”
- U.S. “isolation rarely allows for improvements in human rights, and Cuba is no exception. Strained relations with our allies will only escalate this problem. Without a multilateral effort to hold the Cuban government accountable, the U.S. will have a harder time pushing Cuba toward greater freedom.”
Second, an anonymous Administration source said that it is very likely to act on this proposal, but limit it to only the 6,000 existing claims and to exempt U.S. companies currently doing business in Cuba. Although this would reduce the harmful effects of such a change, it still is objectionable for the reasons advanced by Engage Cuba.
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[1] Engage Cuba, Urgent: Trump Administration May Allow Lawsuits for Confiscated Property in Cuba (Jan.—2019).
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Duane,
With regard to rural development I read about two ideas, at least one of which is working:
1. There’s a company, I think in Kentucky, that runs a technology school for people from rural counties. When they graduate they have a very good chance to getting tech jobs, such as website development, that they can do from their homes. They can stay, in this case, the beautiful hills of Eastern Kentucky, make a good living, and spend money in their own communities to help the economy.
2. Some small town, I think, in Kansas was heading to becoming a ghost town. The town invested in getting the most up-to-date computer connections available in hopes of attracting companies dependent on the internet. Don’t know if this worked. But there is one town in Kansas where an Indian (India Indian) bought a bank in the town so they could develop new internet applications for finance. One other possible business that could benefit, my wild guess, is the senior citizen living industry. My Grinnell roommate of two years, Steve Grooms, is obese and has cognitive heart failure. His life centers around his commuter and TV. He is very cheerful, but his horizons are limited. And didn’t I read somewhere about a rural town in Minnesota that was trying sell businesses with their internet connections?
Ralph Craft
Hope every “matter” will be solved between them … they are neighbours after all … peace is the solution …