Obama renews waiver on Cuba-property lawsuits
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama has informed Congress that he will
waive for six months a 1996 law that permits lawsuits against foreign
companies who use Cuban property once owned by Americans.
The waiver has become routine. Both President Bill Clinton and President
George W. Bush blocked the ability of U.S. citizens to sue over
properties seized after Cuba's 1959 revolution. The provision is
contained in the Helms-Burton Act, sponsored by the late U.S. Sen. Jesse
Helms and Rep. Dan Burton, which forbids U.S. officials from restoring
full diplomatic relations with Cuba as long as either Fidel or Raul
Castro is in charge.
Using language virtually identical to that which Bush used in his first
waiver, Obama wrote Tuesday to members of Congress that the waiver is
"necessary to the national interests of the United States and will
expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba."
Cuban-American groups oppose the waiver, but the European Union supports
it, calling the law a U.S. attempt to impose its anti-Cuba policy on
other nations.
The letter from Obama came as Bush's final waiver was about to expire.
It also came on the same day that the State Department said the U.S, and
Cuba are renewing negotiations on the U.S.-Cuba migration accords. The
talks' focus will be on promotion of safe, legal and orderly migration
between the two countries.
Obama renews waiver on Cuba-property lawsuits - Politics AP -
MiamiHerald.com (15 July 2009)
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/politics/AP/story/1142517.html
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