Latest news with #Helms-BurtonAct
The Guardian
04-05-2025
- The Guardian
US jury's $30m verdict brings hope for Cuban exiles over confiscated land
Long before it became one of Cuba's most popular tourist destinations in the 1990s, the small island of Cayo Coco, with its pristine beaches and powdery white sands, attracted a different kind of clientele. Inspired by its unspoiled beauty, and his observations of shack-dwelling fishermen scratching out a meager living, Ernest Hemingway set scenes from two of his most famous books there, including the 1952 classic The Old Man and the Sea. Then came the giant all-inclusive mega-resort hotels that have proliferated in recent decades along the island's northern coast, and brought in millions of desperately needed dollars for a largely destitute Cuban government. Now, there's a bitterly contested multimillion-dollar lawsuit that has implications for the descendants of dozens of Cuban exiles in the US who have been fighting for decades for compensation for land and property seized following Fidel Castro's 1959 communist revolution. Mario Echeverría, head of a Cuban American family in Miami that says it owned Cayo Coco, and saw it stolen from them in Castro's aggressive land reforms, won a $30m verdict this month from the travel giant Expedia after a two-week trial. The jury said Expedia, and subsidiaries Orbitz and illegally profited from promoting and selling vacation packages at hotels there. The rare lawsuit was one of the first brought under Title III of the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, also known as the Helms-Burton Act. The act was designed to finally open a legal pathway for such compensation claims, but was suspended by successive presidents until Donald Trump made the decision to activate it in 2019. The intention was to deter US and international companies from investing in Cuba by exposing them to potentially huge financial penalties for conducting business there. For Echeverría, who reminisced about his grandmother tending the beachfront at Cayo Coco in a moving Spanish-language interview with UniVista TV earlier this year, the verdict is not the end of the story. He and his family may never see a penny after Federico Moreno, the district court judge overseeing the case, paused the award and set a further hearing for August seeking 'specific evidence' that the family itself legally acquired the land on Cuba's independence from Spain in 1898. The only other previously adjudicated Helms-Burton penalty, a $439m illegal tourism ruling in 2022 against four major cruise lines operating from Havana, was overturned last year. An appeals court said a claim by descendants of the original dock owners was essentially out of time. A handful of other cases, meanwhile, have stalled – including one by the oil giant Exxon Mobil that claims various Cuban state corporations are profiting from its confiscated land. But those at the forefront of the fight for justice say the Expedia case in particular brings hope to scores of others pursuing compensation for property they insist was illegally seized. 'There are 45 other suits that are making their way through the courts, there may be more new ones after this verdict also,' said Nicolás Gutiérrez, president of the National Association of Sugar Mill Owners of Cuba. Gutiérrez is a Miami-based consultant who has worked with hundreds of dispossessed exiles and their families, in addition to pursuing amends for his own family's lost houses, farmland and mills. 'We are hopeful that this is just the beginning. We waited 23 years, from 1996 to 2019, to have the key provisions of Title III be put into effect by President Trump, and now there's new generations of families in these cases I'm working with,' he said, adding: 'The old guys back then are gone, but in many cases their kids have continued with their crusade. Some have given up, some have been sort of reactivated along the way, and it's not only justice for the families, it's like a historic and moral commitment. We sacrificed and built up prosperity in Cuba that was taken for no good reason.' Gutiérrez also believes that desperate conditions on the island could hasten the fight. 'They never recovered from the pandemic with tourism. The sugar, nickel and rum industries, and tobacco to a lesser extent, have been run into the ground. Remittances and trips are going to be further cut by the Trump administration, and that's really what they're relying on now,' he said. 'They don't even have electricity for more than a couple hours a day. 'Someday, relatively soon, there will be a big change, and if a future Cuba wants to attract the serious level of investment it will need to dig itself out of the hole that this totalitarian nightmare has dug over the last 66 years, what better way to inspire confidence than to recognize the victims of the illegal confiscations?' Analysts of Cuban politics say the government is taking notice of the Helms-Burton actions. These analysts are also looking into the ramifications of Trump's existing and planned crackdowns designed to increase financial pressure on the communist regime. 'There are people looking at the impact it's having overall in the investment scenario in the island, and apparently it's having some chilling effect,' said Sebastian Arcos, director of Florida International University's Cuban Research Institute. 'The most important chilling effect is the fact that the Cuban economy is going nowhere, and everybody knows it. 'The government stole properties from many thousands of Cubans, and what we're seeing now is a systematic attempt of many of the people who inherited these claims from their families not to try to recover, because it's impossible to recover anything as long as the Cuban regime is there, but at least to punish the regime financially for doing what they did.' It's unclear if Echeverría's family will become the first to actually receive compensation, but with stretches of Cayo Coco's northern coastline now consumed by the concrete of almost a dozen super-resorts offering more than 5,000 hotel rooms, they accept the land will not be returned. Their attorney, Andrés Rivero, said in a statement: 'This is a major victory not only for our client, but also for the broader community of Cuban Americans whose property was wrongfully taken and has been exploited by US companies in partnership with the Cuban communist dictatorship. 'We are proud to have played a role in securing justice under a law that had never before been tested before a jury.' Expedia did not reply to specific questions. A spokesperson said in a statement to the Guardian: 'We are disappointed in the jury's verdict, which we do not believe was supported by the law or evidence. We believe the court was correct to decline immediate entry of judgment and look forward to the court's consideration of the legal sufficiency of the evidence presented to the jury.'
Daily Mail
23-04-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Summer vacations thrown into chaos as hotel reservations in popular Caribbean hotspot are ruled ILLEGAL
Americans considering summer vacations to a popular Caribbean island won't be able to plan travel through popular Expedia Group websites amid a landmark court ruling declaring bookings to property sized during the Cuban Revolution illegal. A Miami federal court ordered the Expedia and affiliates and Orbitz to pay a staggering $30 million to an American-Cuban who fled the bloody overthrow of the government by Fidel Castro and Che Guevara in the late 1950s. Bookings to hotels on the small island of Cayo Coco off the northern coast of the Ciego de Avila province, 280 miles east of Havana, are no longer possible through Expedia amid the travel site's long-running legal dispute brought by Cuban refugee Mario Echevarría. The ruling in the Southern District of Florida found that Expedia and its affiliates illegally promoted and sold bookings to hotels on land that belonged to the Echevarría family. It's the first ruling of its kind under the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which allowed US nationals to sue companies that profited from the 'trafficking' of properties sized by the Castro regime without compensation. Enforcement of the act had been suspended until 2019 when Donald Trump triggered the Title III provision that allowed Echevarría to sue. A two-week jury trial found he had 12.5 percent ownership of the land and was entitled to $9.95 million in damages - with the jury tripling the amount to $29.85 million because Expedia continued promoting the hotels after the lawsuit was filed. Echevarría first notified Expedia in August 2019 that the family would be seeking legal action for the group's business dealings with hotels that were located on the tourist hot spot. It is understood Expedia has no pending reservations at the island and has no intent to resume bookings. Mario Echevarría won a $29.8 million judgment against Expedia and two of its affiliates after a jury found that the booking sites violated the the Helms-Burton Act, which protects U.S. nationals who owned property that had been illegally confiscated by the Cuban government from. The jury determined the sites made financial gains by doing business in such properties Echevarría's attorney Andrés Rivero said the ruling was a 'major victory' not only for his client 'but also for the broader community of Cuban-Americans whose property was wrongfully taken and has been exploited by U.S. companies in partnership with the Cuban communist dictatorship'. 'We are proud to have played a role in securing justice under a law that had never before been tested before a jury,' he said. Judge Federico A. Moreno has scheduled additional hearings to determine the payout. It is unknown if each travel booking company will have to pay $ 29.8 million in damages or if it will be split evenly. All three companies must appeal by July if they are not in accordance with the decision. 'We are disappointed in the jury's verdict, which we do not believe was supported by the law or evidence,' an Expedia spokesperson told The Daily Mail. 'We believe the court was correct to decline immediate entry of judgment and look forward to the court's consideration of the legal sufficiency of the evidence presented to the jury.' A search on all three travel booking web sites showed that listings to hotels had been removed. In a January interview with UniVista TV, Echeverría revealed his great aunt was chosen by his great grandfather to administer the land before the Castro-led revolution swept across Cuba. The family's properties were taken away in 1961, two years after the new government's Agrarian Reform Law was enacted. 'I thought that the triumph of the Revolution would bring democracy to Cuba,' Echeverría said. 'I didn't know who Fidel Castro was.' Echeverría fled Cuba in 1967 and settled in Spain before he moved to the United States. He lived in New York and Connecticut before he settled down in Miami and became an important figure in the Cuban exile community.
Miami Herald
23-04-2025
- Business
- Miami Herald
Miami man wins $30M verdict against Expedia over confiscated property in Cuba
In a first such decision,, a Miami federal jury has found that travel booking company Expedia Group ows $29.85 million to a Cuban-American family in damages for having promoted and sold bookings to Floridians at hotels in land confiscated by the Cuban government during the early days of Fidel Castro's revolution. The case was filed by Mario Echevarría, one of the heirs of a Cuban family that claimed ownership of Cayo Coco, a small key off the northern coast of central Cuba, against Expedia and its affiliate sites and Orbitz under the 1996 Helms-Burton Act. It is the first of such lawsuits to reach a jury trial. The Helms-Burton Act gives U.S. nationals who hold a claim to property that the Cuban government confiscated without compensation the right to sue companies, American or foreign, who have profited or 'trafficked' in such property. Fromn 1996 to 2019, successive U.S. presidents had suspended the Helms-Burton provision, Title III, that provides that legal path, In 2019, President Donald Trump enacted that portion of the act during his first term. The long pause and several other legal technicalities have complicated the attempts of dozens of U.S. companies and property heirs from prevailing in court. Several other prominent Helms-Burton lawsuits have been turned down on appeal or are headed to the Supreme Court after years of expensive litigation. But a jury in Florida's Southern District found last Friday that Expedia and its affiliates didn't follow the law by promoting tourism to Cuba and by marketing and selling bookings for Cayo Coco's all-inclusive hotels built in land confiscated from Echevarría's family in 1960. 'This is a major victory not only for our client, but also for the broader community of Cuban-Americans whose property was wrongfully taken and has been exploited by U.S. companies in partnership with the Cuban communist dictatorship,' attorney Andrés Rivero said. 'We are proud to have played a role in securing justice under a law that had never before been tested before a jury.' The verdict comes six years after Echevarría first notified Expedia that the family was planning to sue in August 2019. After a two-week trial, the jury found that Echevarría had a 12,5% ownership interest in Cayo Coco and awarded $9,950,000 in damages. The jury also decided to triple the amount the companies must pay because Expedia and its affiliates continued promoting hotels in Cayo Coco after being notified of the potential lawsuit. It is yet unclear if each company would have to pay $30 million separately, and the judge presiding over the case, Federico A. Moreno, has ordered further proceedings. The travel booking companies have until July to challenge the verdict, Moreno wrote. Santosh Aravind, a lawyer representing the travel booking companies, told the jury the firms had committed a 'mistake,' not an intentional act of 'trafficking,' and questioned Echevarría's inheritance claims on Cayo Coco's property, Law360 reported. But the jury was unpersuaded. 'We are disappointed in the jury's verdict, which we do not believe was supported by the law or evidence.,' David Shank, a lawyer representing the companies, told the Miami Herald. 'We believe the court was correct to decline immediate entry of judgment and look forward to the court's consideration of the legal sufficiency of the evidence presented to the jury.'
Miami Herald
06-03-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Cuban-American Congressman Lincoln Diaz-Balart measured up to his name
In naming Lincoln Diaz-Balart upon his birth, his parents perceptively foreshadowed his life of outstanding public service. Like President Abraham Lincoln's service to our nation more than a century earlier, his service emphasized human rights and the rule of law. He addressed such issues in his native homeland of Cuba but did not focus exclusively on Cuba. His human rights advocacy spanned the globe until his death this week at 70. Perhaps the best example of his leadership in this field was his successful advocacy of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996, or the Helms-Burton Act, which he did as my colleague and a member of Congress from South Florida. While many people worked on this act, Lincoln Daiz-Balart was the leader who brought these disparate individuals together to pass this historic legislation over the latent hostility of the State Department and the administration. He was the mover behind this surprising legislative victory. On Feb. 24, 1996, the Cuban regime planned and executed the shootdown of two Brothers to the Rescue small private planes in international airspace over international waters, which searched for 'rafters' fleeing the dictatorial oppression of communist Cuba. Lincoln Diaz-Balart immediately perceived that this murderous act by the Cuban government, which killed three U.S. citizens and one U.S. resident, could coerce the Clinton administration and the reluctant Congress into some positive action. Somewhat embarrassed by its lack of any significant response whatsoever, the Clinton White House was vulnerable to his advocacy for a Cuba policy bill that had been percolating among anti-Castro lawmakers for some time but had never gained sufficient traction within broader political circles. But now, would leaders in Congress and the administration, including the president, risk appearing to 'defend' the Cuban regime after its blatant execution of the South Florida fliers? Diaz-Balart knew this was the time to move, assembling colleagues and supporters to pass the LIBERTAD Act on March 12, 1996. The act condemned the shootdown as a 'criminal act by Castro's air force'. It went on to place into law several policies that several presidents had adopted over the years, but that seemed in jeopardy of being weakened or eliminated entirely at the hands of appeasers within the executive branch. Thanks to Diaz-Balart, specific provisions were codified, thus placing them in the control of Congress rather than any president. From then on, real steps toward democracy and freedom would have to be demonstrated by the Cuban regime before certain restrictions on commercial activity and travel could be lifted, ensuring that such a loosening of control did not simply fund and support the totalitarian regime. Steps toward the normalization of relations between the two countries could only occur as progress was made on the island toward competitive political parties, free elections, a competitive economy and personal political freedoms, such as free speech. In meetings with the administration, Diaz-Balart gained grudging agreement by asking participants about the value of freedom, which they found difficult to avoid. One of my favorite memories of my dear friend in action is the closed-door debates we had on the provisions of the Helms-Burton bill, where Sen. Jesse Helms (R-NC) was the host and present was former U.S. Rep. Dan Burton (R-IN), among others. Once Helms saw that Diaz-Balart was knowledgeable on the bill, he left us alone to hammer out all the details. He knew that the legislation that carried his name was in good hands. The real work in that beautiful Senate ceremonial room was left to Diaz-Balart and we helped him along. The Helms-Burton bill enshrined the embargo on Cuba into U.S. law. That was one of Lincoln Diaz-Balart's finest legislative accomplishments. The LIBERTAD Act is unquestionably one of only two instances in which Congress has successfully asserted its full constitutional role in American foreign policy. (The only other instance is the Taiwan Relations Act.) Lincoln Diaz-Balart's impact on U.S. foreign policy will outlast his unfortunate premature passing. His values, integrity, leadership and perseverance are outstanding traits for us to follow. For this we are grateful. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is a former Republican Cuban-American congresswoman from Miami. For years, she served in Congress alongside U.S. Rep. Lincoln Diaz-Balart.
Miami Herald
03-03-2025
- Politics
- Miami Herald
Cuban-American Rep. Díaz-Balart fought for refugees in the U.S. Who champions them now?
Former Miami Republican U.S. Rep. Lincoln Díaz-Balart, who died Monday at 70 after a battle with cancer, was a political towering figure in Miami's Cuban exile community — a fierce opponent of Fidel Castro and a devoted advocate for a free Cuba. Sadly, Díaz-Balart is yet another Cuban exile outlived by the communist Castro regime, which today remains in power after 66 years. His life was emblematic of the Cuban exile experience — a narrative of loss, resilience and an unbreakable will to fight against oppressive governments. His fight extended beyond Cuba to Nicaragua and El Salvador, always championing the right of immigrants fleeing tyranny to find refuge in the United States. Unfortunately, no one in Congress today plays that role quite like he did. An unwavering dedication to human rights and immigrant advocacy defined his legislative career. Among his most historic achievements in Congress was codifying the U.S. embargo on Cuba through the Helms-Burton Act, ensuring that only an act of Congress could lift it. He also played a crucial role in passing the Nicaraguan Adjustment and Central American Relief Act, a 1997 law that allowed individuals from Nicaragua, El Salvador and Guatemala who entered the U.S. during a period of political unrest in their home countries to apply for a green card and a path to citizenship. Such a law would never get off the ground today. Díaz-Balart was among the first to help establish Cuban Americans as a powerful and influential voting bloc within the GOP, helping shape local, state and national politics for decades, just as President Ronald Reagan, the first to seriously court the Cuban vote, was elected. An intellectual with sharp political instincts, Díaz-Balart was fully fluent in English and became the first young Cuban exile politician to gain recognition beyond exile circles. He initially entered politics in South Florida in 1982 as a Democrat but, disenchanted by what he saw as the party's leniency toward communism, switched to the Republican Party in 1985. He was first elected to public office in the Florida House in 1986 and, then, in the Senate. He ran for Congress and won, representing Florida's 21st District from 1992 to 2011. Today, his younger brother, Mario Díaz-Balart, holds the redistricted seat. 'Lincoln's influence in framing the debate on U.S. policy toward Cuba, centered on democracy, freedom and human rights, cannot be overstated. He was the intellectual giant among our delegation,' former Republican U.S. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who served years with Díaz-Balart, told the Editorial Board. 'He was the author of some of the most consequential pieces of legislation to punish the oppressors of the Cuban people.' Mario Díaz-Balart described him as a 'defender of the silenced and oppressed.' Politics ran through the Díaz-Balart family's blood, as did their fierce opposition to Castro. His father, Rafael Díaz-Balart, was a majority leader in Cuba's House of Representatives. But Diaz-Balart's opposition to Castro was more than political — it was deeply personal. His aunt, Mirta Díaz-Balart, was Fidel Castro's first wife, making Castro, briefly, his uncle by marriage. This familial connection did nothing to soften his criticism of the Cuban regime. If anything, it fueled his resolve. Known for his fiery rhetoric, Díaz-Balart consistently condemned the Cuban government's human rights abuses and authoritarian rule. For nearly a decade, his speeches in Congress often echoed the frustrations and hopes of countless Cuban exiles in Miami yearning for their homeland's freedom. Even after retiring from Congress in 2011, Díaz-Balart never stopped fighting for a free Cuba. Through legal and consulting work, he remained deeply engaged in Western Hemisphere affairs, offering insights and support to initiatives promoting democracy on the island. His passing is a profound loss to the Cuban exile community, particularly to the first wave of exiles who arrived in the U.S. in the early 1960s, and to all immigrants who came to the U.S. seeking freedom and safety. He was a beacon of hope, a voice that never wavered from loudly demanding 'Viva Cuba Libre!' and standing up for what's right. Click here to send the letter.
