The revival of a law that was dormant for 20 years now allows Americans to pursue legal action against non-US companies doing business in Cuba. The expected legal action involves private property confiscated by the Castro regime, including Cubana (CU, Havana International).
The first filings were lodged at the US District Court in Miami on May 2, on the first day Title III of the 1996 Helms-Burton Act was activated by President Donald Trump's administration, according to the Associated Press.
Surviving relatives of former business owners who now live in the United States hope this will enable them to unlock billions of dollars in compensation.
Jose Ramon Lopez Regueiro claims to be the sole heir to Havana International, formerly known as Rancho-Boyeros Airport, Cubana, and four hotels. He was aged six when his father, Jose Lopez Vilaboy, fled Cuba after Castro overthrew Fulgencio Batista and nationalised private companies.
López told AP that he was preparing documents to sue the Cuban government, the airlines Aeroméxico, LATAM Airlines, and Copa Airlines, and the hotel firm Meliá, adding that he wasn’t worried by the potential investment of time or money.
Owing to US sanctions, Cubana has experienced difficulty in procuring aircraft on the international market. With the bulk of its fleet out of action, it has wet-leased a single A320-200, JY-JAC, from Jordan Aviation (R5, Amman Queen Alia) to cover international routes from Havana to México City International, Cancún, Caracas Simón Bolivar, and Santo Domingo Las Américas, as well as domestic routes, ch-aviation research has revealed.
It also leases one ATR42-500 from Aerogaviota (GTV, Havana International), a B737-300 and a B737-400 from Blue Panorama Airlines (Rome Fiumicino), and two ATR72-200s from Solenta Aviation (SET, Johannesburg O.R. Tambo). Two of its four Il-96s are currently active, although a third, CU-T1254 (msn 74393202017), was rolled out of storage on May 6 for the first time in six years for ramp tests ahead of possibly being returned to service.
