Exxon Files Lawsuit Against Cuba Over Post-Revolution Property Confiscation

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - US oil and gas corporation Exxon Mobil filed a lawsuit against the Cuban state-owned oil company Cuba-Petroleo and CIMEX corporation in a US federal court over the confiscation of a refinery, gas stations and other property in 1960 after the Cuban revolution, according to a court document.

"Plaintiff brings this Complaint against Defendant Corporación CIMEX S.A. ("CIMEX") and Defendant Unión Cuba-Petróleo ("CUPET") (collectively "Defendants") for unlawful trafficking in Plaintiff’s confiscated property in violation of Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (LIBERTAD) Act of 1996," the document says.

The corporation demanded actual damages in the amount of $71.6 million plus interest and legal fees.

In mid-April, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said that the United States would not extend beyond May 2 the exclusion from the law that allows claims to Cuba and foreign companies in connection with property seized from citizens of the United States after the Cuban revolution. This decision has paved way to filing such claims.

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The Helms-Burton Act (LIBERTAD) was passed in 1996. It provides for the extension of economic restrictions not only to Cuba, but also to foreign companies cooperating with it, including for receiving the benefits of the property seized by the authorities of the island, which belonged prior to 1959 to US citizens or Cubans who later acquired US citizenship. However, all US presidents since that time have consistently extended the respite of the application of all its provisions.