Díaz-Balart Leads Bipartisan Amicus Brief Urging SCOTUS to Protect U.S. Property Rights and Uphold Title III of the LIBERTAD Act

MIAMI, FL – Congressman Mario Díaz-Balart (R-FL-26), Chair of the National Security, Department of State, and Related Programs Subcommittee on the House Appropriations Committee and a leading voice of our nation’s foreign policy, announced that he, alongside Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL-25), María Elvira Salazar (R-FL-27), Carlos A. Giménez (R-FL-28), Lois Frankel (D-FL-22), and Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY-11) filed a bipartisan amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court in Havana Docks Corp. v. Royal Caribbean Cruises, Ltd., et al.

The amicus brief focuses on the important foreign policy implications furthered by Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Helms-Burton LIBERTAD Act), which allows those whose property was confiscated by the Castro regime to sue companies that knowingly trafficked in those stolen properties. The brief urges the Court to ensure that the victims of these unjust confiscations are fully able to pursue justice in U.S. courts—just as Congress intended when it passed the law in 1996.

“For more than 60 years, the Cuban regime has stolen property, enriched itself while unscrupulous companies profit from the confiscation of those assets, and denied justice to its victims all while brutally oppressing its people and opposing U.S. interests at every opportunity,” said Congressman Díaz-Balart. “Congress enacted the LIBERTAD Act to hold the anti-American Cuban regime accountable for its crimes and ensure that those whose properties were stolen by the Castro regime have a legal avenue for justice. It also puts foreign companies on notice that they would be held accountable for profiting from stolen property while enriching the Castro regime. I am proud to lead this bipartisan amicus brief alongside my colleagues to defend the rule of law, protect U.S. property rights, and support the victims of the Cuban dictatorship’s criminal conduct.”

Background

From December 2015 to June 2019, four cruise lines profited from stolen property, taking nearly one million tourists to the confiscated Havana Docks property, where they moored their ships and disembarked passengers. These Cuba voyages were big business for the cruise lines, which collectively received more than $1 billion for the voyages according to information provided to lower courts. The regime in Cuba also received a windfall through the confiscated property, with the cruise lines admitting in court documents to paying the regime more than $130 million in fees and taxes.

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