The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that ExxonMobil can move forward with its lawsuit seeking more than $1 billion in compensation for oil and gas assets confiscated by the Cuban government following Fidel Castro’s rise to power in 1959.
In a 6-3 decision, the Court found that the 1996 Helms-Burton Act allows U.S. companies to sue Cuban state-owned entities over seized property, despite protections typically provided under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act.
Justice Elena Kagan, one of three dissenting justices, argued that the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act already establishes when foreign governments can be sued in U.S. courts.
“The FSIA sets up a series of tests: when you’re immune and when you’re not immune,” Kagan wrote. “So why shouldn’t we just take that as, like, OK, it’s the FSIA that is the relevant statute here?”
The ruling removes a major legal hurdle for ExxonMobil and could pave the way for other American companies to seek compensation for property nationalized by Cuba decades ago.
