MIAMI, United States — The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit on Wednesday overturned a lower court’s decision that had dismissed a lawsuit filed by José Ramón López Regueiro against American Airlines for the alleged illegal use of Havana’s current “José Martí” International Airport.
According to the court ruling, the Appeals Court found that the lower court “erred in dismissing the complaint,” and determined that the Helms-Burton Act “does not impose the prerequisites” claimed by the airline’s defense. As a result, it ordered the dismissal to be overturned and the case to proceed through the legal system.
The original lawsuit was filed by López Regueiro under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows U.S. citizens to seek compensation from companies that have “trafficked” in properties confiscated by the Cuban government after 1959.
The plaintiff alleged that his father, José López Vilaboy, acquired Cuba’s main airport in 1955 through the company Compañía de Aeropuertos Internacionales S.A. (CAISA). After Fidel Castro came to power, the airport was expropriated and the family fled to the United States.
After Vilaboy’s death in 1989, López Regueiro inherited CAISA’s shares under Florida law, although he did not become a U.S. citizen until 2015. According to the lawsuit, American Airlines “trafficked in the property” by operating flights to and from the airport since at least 1991.
The airline requested the case be dismissed, arguing that the Helms-Burton Act required both the original owner and the heir to be U.S. citizens at the time of the confiscation and the acquisition of interest in the property. The district court accepted that interpretation and dismissed the case, but the Court of Appeals firmly rejected it.
“The Helms-Burton Act does not require the owner of the property to have been a U.S. citizen at the time it was expropriated, nor that the plaintiff was a citizen when acquiring an interest in the property,” stated the ruling, written by Judge Jill Pryor. “The text of the law is clear: any U.S. citizen who holds a valid claim to confiscated property may sue, even if they acquired that claim before becoming naturalized.”
The court also dismissed the argument that López Regueiro lacked a real interest in the airport and only held shares in CAISA. “The Helms-Burton Act protects those who have an interest in confiscated property, including shareholders, even if they do not directly own the property in question,” the ruling clarified, citing the recent case Fernandez v. Seaboard Marine Ltd.
The appellate court further emphasized that the definition of “U.S. national” under the law includes “any U.S. citizen,” and that this definition “must be interpreted in the broadest sense.”
The ruling notes that Congress, in enacting the law in 1996, “intended to provide a mechanism for compensation for those who suffered losses due to the actions of the Castro regime,” in contrast to earlier legislation that only allowed state-sponsored claims through the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (FCSC).
After President Donald Trump lifted the suspension of Title III in 2019, López Regueiro was among the first to file a lawsuit under this legal provision. The appeal followed a lower court ruling in favor of American Airlines. Now, the case can proceed in court.
“Regueiro alleged that the Cuban government confiscated the airport, that CAISA owned it, and that he inherited its shares. These allegations, at this stage of the proceedings, are sufficient to sustain the lawsuit,” the Court concluded.
The decision represents a significant victory for those seeking reparations under the Helms-Burton Act and could set a precedent for other similar lawsuits pending in federal courts.
Recibe la información de CubaNet en tu celular a través de WhatsApp. Envíanos un mensaje con la palabra “CUBA” al teléfono +1 (786) 316-2072, también puedes suscribirte a nuestro boletín electrónico dando click aquí.
HAZ TU DONACIÓN AQUÍ
