Washington: US federal courts have so far dismissed six lawsuits in cases protected under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, when the UN today debates the issue of the blockade of Cuba.
After being activated by the Donald Trump administration in May 2019 when other presidents did not, Chapter III of the Helms-Burton Act created new scenarios of friction between foreign partners and US authorities.
None of the 41 lawsuits filed under the Helms-Burton Act went to trial so far, although four escalated in appeals in other judicial circuits, according to reports from that environment.
Only 11 of the claims belong to the list of 5,913 citizens and companies certified by the Foreign Claims Adjudication Commission of the Department of Justice until 1974.
In the most recent decision, a federal court in Miami dismissed a lawsuit by a Cuban-American family against the French company Pernod Ricard under the Helms-Burton Act after considering that the claimants could not demonstrate the proper jurisdiction of the case.
Attempts to prevent the commercialization of Cuban rums by the French company began in 1994 when the Bacardi Ltd company applied for a license to handle the Havana Club trademark.
In February 2016, the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO) renewed the trademark of Cuban state firm Cubaexport for the next 10 years, prompting a legal challenge from Bacardi.
Pernod Ricard, the second largest producer of the liquors and alcoholic beverages in the world, has operated a joint venture with Cuba Ron S.A. for more than two decades. for the commercialization of Havana Club rum, although it is prevented from selling Cuban rums in the United States due to the restrictions of the blockade.
Even in September 2020, the Trump administration prohibited Americans visiting Cuba from buying bottles of Cuban rum worth up to $ 100, something that is part of the 243 measures applied against Havana to tighten the siege.
This Wednesday the United Nations General Assembly will be the scene of a debate on the demands to end the blockade and where figures and by sectors will be presented the tangible and accounting impact of the aggressions that the Caribbean nation has suffered for 62 years due to politics from Washington.
