The U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday in favor of a U.S. terminal company whose property in Havana was confiscated under former Cuban leader Fidel Castro.
The court’s 8-1 ruling could pave the way for other U.S. companies to pursue claims over assets seized after the island’s 1959 communist revolution.
The decision by the conservative-dominated court comes as tensions rise between Washington and Havana, with President Donald Trump threatening to take over the country.
The United States on Wednesday filed murder charges against Raul Castro, the former Cuban president and brother of Fidel Castro, in connection with the 1996 shooting down of two civilian planes flown by anti-Castro pilots that killed one person.
The Supreme Court overturned a federal appeals court ruling in a case brought by U.S. port company Havana Terminal Co.
An appeals court has overturned a lower court ruling that four cruise lines must pay millions of dollars in damages for using confiscated terminals in Cuba.
Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and MSC Cruises were ordered to pay $109 million each to Havana Marina Co., which owned the concession for what is now the Havana Cruise Port terminal, which was later nationalized by the Cuban government in 1960.
The fines were levied under the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, which allows any American whose assets were seized by Castro’s government to sue those who profited from their use.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that Havana Marina did not own the property but held a 99-year concession that expired in 2004 and therefore was not eligible for damages.
“We disagree,” Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas said. “Havana Marina Company has demonstrated that the cruise line used forfeited property in which Havana Marina Company had an interest in the property and had a claim.”
“Those who use property that has been seized in the past should be held accountable to any U.S. national who owns that property,” Thomas said.
Justice Elena Kagan dissented.
“All Havana Marina Company had was a property interest that allowed it to use the terminals for a specified period of time,” Kagan said. “That time-limited interest expired in 2004, more than a decade before the cruise lines used the terminals.”
The terminals were used from 2016 to 2019 after President Barack Obama eased the U.S. embargo on Cuba, allowing cruise ships to dock there.
Obama’s successor, Republican Donald Trump, reversed that decision.
The United States has imposed an economic embargo on Cuba since 1962.
CL/BGS
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