Judge dismisses Cuba-related lawsuits against MSC, Norwegian

A federal judge this week dismissed lawsuits against MSC
Cruises and Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings that sought damages for docking at
Cuba’s largest seaport. 

Havana Docks Corp., the company that owned the cruise
terminal in Havana prior to its 1960 confiscation by the Castro government,
filed the suits pursuant to the Libertad Act, also known as the Helms-Burton
Act of 1996, after the Trump administration last May ended a longstanding
policy suspending the right to sue under the act’s provisions, clearing the way
for lawsuits.

The 1996 act was intended to prevent companies from “trafficking”
in property confiscated by the Castro government after the Cuban revolution.

Judge Beth Bloom of the U.S. District Court for the Southern
District of Florida dismissed suits against MSC and NCLH, ruling in both cases
that because the plaintiff’s property interest was a lease that expired in 2004
and since the lawsuit is based on use since 2018, “the defendant could only ‘traffic’
in Plaintiff’s confiscated property if it undertook one of the prohibited
activities before Plaintiff’s interest in the property expired.” 

Similar lawsuits against Carnival Corp. and Royal Caribbean
Cruises Ltd. could also be dismissed using the same arguments, said John
Kavulich, president of the U.S.-Cuba Trade and Economic Council. He added that the
first two dismissals are “almost identical.”

However, Kavulich thinks the suits will be appealed. 

“A different judge may interpret the Libertad Act language
differently,” he said. “Also, there may be an effort by a member of Congress to
introduce legislation to make certain that issues such as expired leases are
addressed to the benefit of the plaintiff.”