Cuba on Wednesday rejected Washington's decision to allow lawsuits in US courts against companies operating in properties seized during the communist revolution in Havana, calling it an "attack." "It is an attack against International Law and the sovereignty of Cuba & third States," Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez wrote on Twitter.
On Tuesday, President Donald Trump's administration defied warnings from the European Union by forging ahead with the long-delayed Helms-Burton Act, saying it would go into effect on May 2. "Any person or company doing business in Cuba should heed this announcement," Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told reporters. The measure was originally passed by the US Congress in 1996 but until now had been delayed systematically by each president every six months.
The EU has threatened to hit the US with reprisals over the move, according to a letter from foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and trade commissioner Cecilia Malmstrom to Pompeo.
Under the provision of the Helms-Burton Act, companies that operate in property seized by Cuba during or after Fidel Castro's 1959 communist revolution could face lawsuits in US courts from the vast and politically powerful Cuban American diaspora.
"Those doing business in Cuba should fully investigate whether they are connected to property stolen in service of a failed communist experiment," Pompeo said.
In its letter, the EU said it would be "obliged to use all means at its disposal... to protect its interests." The EU is worried about how the move will affect its companies in Cuba - it is the island nation's largest foreign investor.
The decision could spark thousands of lawsuits in the US and discourage foreign investment in Cuba, which is in desperate need of capital to boost its stuttering economy, already hampered by US sanctions.
In 2017 it attracted only $2 billion in investments - it needs $5 billion to spark growth. The US announcement coincides with Wednesday's anniversary of the Bay of Pigs invasion, a failed attempt in 1961 by the Central Intelligence Agency to overthrow Castro. Rodriguez said the "aggressive escalation" of US sanctions against Cuba would fail.
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