Exxon Mobil gets go ahead to continue $280 million lawsuit against nationalised properties in Cuba
OnCuba | Wednesday, 19 May 2021 | Click here for original article
In April a Washington DC federal court authorised the U.S. Exxon Mobil oil company to continue its lawsuit against two Cuban enterprises for the nationalisation of its properties at the beginning of the Cuban Revolution.
In May 2019, the American company opened the first lawsuit against Cuban enterprises under the Helms-Burton Act, in the court of the U.S. capital. After that, a dozen more lawsuits have appeared, but none have succeeded.
Exxon Mobil is seeking a 280-million-dollar compensation from the CIMEX and CUPET enterprises for the use of their former properties in Cuba, such as the one that is today the Ñico López refinery in Havana, as well as hundreds of gasoline and lubricant outlets, offices and trucks for the delivery of refined crude oil.
On 21 April, federal judge Amit Mehta gave the green light to the continuation of the process that had been interrupted in 2019. Over the years, the United States government has recognized thousands of lawsuits of this type presented by companies and individuals regarding properties that once belonged to Americans.
But Exxon shelved its case in 2019 after the Donald Trump administration said it would not block a provision in a 1996 U.S. law that allowed private trials for property seized in Cuba. However, the legal signature of that policy was never carried out.
The Exxon Mobil lawsuit was recognized by the U.S. government in the mid-1960s and is on a list of certified lawsuits, a condition for them to be heard before a U.S. court.
