The Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996 (Helms–Burton Act), , , ) is a
United States federal law
The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the most important is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as va ...
which strengthens and continues the
United States embargo against Cuba
The United States embargo against Cuba prevents American businesses, and businesses organized under U.S. law or majority-owned by American citizens, from conducting trade with Cuban interests. It is the most enduring trade embargo in modern hist ...
. It extended the territorial application of the initial embargo to apply to foreign companies trading with
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, and penalized foreign companies allegedly "trafficking" in property formerly owned by U.S. citizens but
confiscated
Confiscation (from the Latin ''confiscatio'' "to consign to the ''fiscus'', i.e. transfer to the treasury") is a legal form of seizure by a government or other public authority. The word is also used, popularly, of spoliation under legal forms, o ...
by Cuba after the
Cuban revolution. It also covers property formerly owned by Cubans who have since become U.S. citizens.
The Act is named for its original sponsors, Senator
Jesse Helms
Jesse Alexander Helms Jr. (October 18, 1921 – July 4, 2008) was an American politician. A leader in the conservative movement, he served as a senator from North Carolina from 1973 to 2003. As chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee ...
,
Republican of
North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
, and Representative
Dan Burton
Danny Lee Burton (born June 21, 1938) is an American politician. Burton is the former U.S. Representative for , and previously the , serving from 1983 until 2013. He is a member of the Republican Party and was part of the Tea Party Caucus.
Ear ...
, Republican of
Indiana
Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th s ...
.
It was passed by the
104th United States Congress
The 104th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, composed of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from January 3, 199 ...
on March 6, 1996, and enacted into law by the 42nd President of the United States, Bill Clinton, on March 12, 1996. The bill, which had been tabled in late 1995 after Senator Helms was unable to overcome several Democratic filibusters, was reintroduced prompted by an episode a month earlier. On February 24, 1996, Cuban fighter jets shot down two private planes operated by a Miami-based humanitarian international search-and-rescue support group,
Brothers to the Rescue ( es, Hermanos al Rescate), which was on a rescue mission over international waters. Whether they were shot down over Cuban territory or international airspace is a matter of debate.
["Report on the shooting down of two U.S.-registered private civil aircraft by Cuban military aircraft on 24 February 1996", C-WP/10441, June 20, 1996, United Nations Security Council document]
S/1996/509
July 1, 1996.
Content
This law includes a wide variety of provisions intended to bring about "a peaceful transition to a representative democracy and market economy in Cuba":
* International Sanctions against the Cuban Government. Economic embargo, any non-U.S. company that deals economically with Cuba can be subjected to legal action and that company's leadership can be barred from entry into the United States. Sanctions may be applied to non-U.S. companies trading with Cuba. This means that internationally operating companies have to choose between Cuba and the U.S., which is a much larger market.
* United States opposition against Cuban membership in International Financial Institutions.
* Television broadcasting from the United States to Cuba.
* Authorization of United States support for "democratic and human rights groups" and international observers.
* Declares United States policy towards a "transition government" and a "democratically elected government" in Cuba.
* Protection of property rights of certain United States nationals.
* Exclusion of certain aliens from the United States, primarily senior officials or major stock holders, and their families, of companies that do business in Cuba on property expropriated from American citizens. To date, executives from Italy, Mexico, Canada, Israel, and the United Kingdom have been barred.
* Provides power to the Legislative Branch to override an Executive Branch cancellation of the embargo, although such a
legislative veto
The legislative veto describes features of at least two different forms of government, monarchies and those based on the separation of powers, applied to the authority of the monarch in the first and to the authority of the legislature in the sec ...
had been
ruled unconstitutional by the Supreme Court 13 years earlier.
* Prohibits the completion of the
Juragua Nuclear Power Plant.
[These requirements under the Helms–Burton Act have been fulfilled.][In December 2000 ]Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (; ; 13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban revolutionary and politician who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and president from 1976 to 200 ...
announced that Cuba was terminating plans for the construction of the Juragua nuclear plant in his meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin
Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin; (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who holds the office of president of Russia. Putin has served continuously as president or prime minister since 1999: as prime min ...
.
* Prompts for the retirement of former Soviet Union personnel out of Cuban military and intelligence facilities, including the military and intelligence facilities at
Lourdes and Cienfuegos.
[In October 2001, Russia announced plans to shut down the Lourdes Signals Intelligence facility, which it did in August 2002.]
* Prohibits recognition of a transitional government in Cuba that includes Fidel or Raúl Castro.[
* Prohibits recognition of a Cuban government that has not provided compensation for U.S. certified claims against confiscated property, defined as non-residential property with an excess of $50,000 value in 1959.
* Prompts for extradition or otherwise rendition to the United States of all persons sought by the United States Department of Justice for crimes committed in the United States.
]
Notes
Summary
Title I strengthened sanctions against the current Cuban Government. Among many other provisions, it codified the U.S. embargo on trade and financial transactions which had been in effect pursuant to a Presidential proclamation since the Kennedy Administration.
Title II describes U.S. policy toward and assistance to a free and independent Cuba. It required the President to produce a plan for providing economic assistance to a transition or democratic government in Cuba. (The President delivered the plan to Congress in January 1997.)
Title III creates a private cause of action and authorizes U.S. nationals with claims to confiscated property in Cuba to file suit in U.S. courts against persons that may be "trafficking" in that property. The filing fee for the Title III action is set by US Courts at $6,458 (from December 2016), a level that would discourage all but serious claims. The Act grants the President the authority to suspend the lawsuit provisions for periods of up to 6 months if it is necessary to the national interest of the United States and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba. Successive presidents have exercised this authority, most recently in June 2018, pursuant to a non-binding declaration of intention in April 1997 that came out of a trade dispute with the European Union. In 2019 President Trump allowed the suspension to expire, and Carnival Cruise
Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...
was promptly sued under the act.
Title IV requires the denial of visas to and exclusion from the U.S. of persons who, after March 12, 1996, confiscate or "traffic" in confiscated property in Cuba claimed by U.S. nationals. The objective of this provision is to protect the status of confiscated U.S. property and to support existing sanctions against the current regime. The State Department reviews a broad range of economic activity in Cuba to determine the applicability of Title IV. The results of this effort appear not only in the actual determinations of "trafficking," but also in the deterrent to investment in confiscated U.S. property and in the exacerbation of the uncertainty of investing in Cuba.
Legislative history
*October 19, 1995: Passed Senate, 74–24.
*March 6, 1996: Passed House, 336–86.
*March 12, 1996: Signed by President Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
.
Reactions
The Helms–Burton Act was condemned by the Council of Europe
The Council of Europe (CoE; french: Conseil de l'Europe, ) is an international organisation founded in the wake of World War II to uphold European Convention on Human Rights, human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. ...
, the European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
, Britain, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
, Brazil
Brazil ( pt, Brasil; ), officially the Federative Republic of Brazil (Portuguese: ), is the largest country in both South America and Latin America. At and with over 217 million people, Brazil is the world's fifth-largest country by area ...
, Argentina
Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...
and other U.S. allies that enjoy normal trade relations with Cuba. The governments argued that the law ran counter to the spirit of international law and sovereignty.
After a complaint by the European Union with the World Trade Organization
The World Trade Organization (WTO) is an intergovernmental organization that regulates and facilitates international trade. With effective cooperation
in the United Nations System, governments use the organization to establish, revise, and e ...
, a dispute settlement panel was established. Later, the work of the panel was suspended to find a solution through negotiations. After a year, the panel lost its jurisdiction over the matter, and the EU did not pursue the matter any further before the WTO.
The law has also been condemned by humanitarian
Humanitarianism is an active belief in the value of human life, whereby humans practice benevolent treatment and provide assistance to other humans to reduce suffering and improve the conditions of humanity for moral, altruistic, and emotional ...
groups because these groups argue that sanctions against an entire country will affect only the innocent population.
The law provides for compensation of only the largest of claims for confiscated property, primarily only the claims of large multinational companies (valued at roughly $6 billion). It fails to provide for the claims of individuals of the exiled Cuban-American community whose personal residences were confiscated.
The European Union
The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been des ...
introduced a Council Regulation (No 2271/96) (law binding all member states) declaring the extraterritorial provisions of the Helms–Burton Act to be unenforceable within the EU, and permitting recovery of any damages imposed under it. The EU law also applied sanctions against US companies and their executives for making Title III complaints.
The United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
had previously introduced provisions by statutory instrument extending its Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980
The Protection of Trading Interests Act 1980 (c. 11) is an act of Parliament (UK), act of Parliament passed by the Parliament of the United Kingdom, British Parliament to counter United States, American assertions of extraterritorial jurisdiction. ...
(originally passed in the wake of extraterritorial claims by the U.S. in the 1970s) to United States rules on trade with Cuba. United Kingdom law was later extended to counter-act the Helms–Burton Act as well. This included criminal sanctions for complying with extraterritorial provisions of the Helms–Burton Act whilst in the UK.
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
passed the Law of Protection of Commerce and Investments from Foreign Policies that Contravene International Law in October 1996, aimed at neutralizing the Helms–Burton Act. The law provides for a fine of 2.2 million pesos
The peso is the monetary unit of several countries in the Americas, and the Philippines. Originating in the Spanish Empire, the word translates to "weight". In most countries the peso uses the same sign, "$", as many currencies named "dollar" ...
, or $280,254, against anyone who while in Mexican territory obeys another country's laws aimed at reducing Mexican trade or foreign investment in a third country. This law was used against the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel and Towers
The Sheraton Mexico City Maria Isabel Hotel is a business hotel operated by Sheraton Hotels and Resorts and located on Paseo de la Reforma in the Zona Rosa (Mexico), Zona Rosa business and shopping district just across from El Ángel, El Ángel ...
in Mexico City
Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital and largest city of Mexico, and the most populous city in North America. One of the world's alpha cities, it is located in the Valley o ...
, which had expelled a group of Cuban officials upon pressure from the United States government and confiscated their funds.
Similarly, Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
passed the "An Act to amend the Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act
The ''Foreign Extraterritorial Measures Act'' (french: Loi sur les mesures extraterritoriales étrangères) is a statute of Canada. The Act was enacted by the Canadian Parliament in 1984 and became effective February 14, 1985, in an attempt to blo ...
" (C-54), a law to counteract the effect of Helms–Burton. In addition, its legislature proposed (but did not pass) the Godfrey–Milliken Bill that mirrored Helms–Burton, replacing the Cuban revolution with the American revolution. Sponsored by Loyalist descendants, it demanded recompense for United Empire Loyalist
United Empire Loyalists (or simply Loyalists) is an honorific title which was first given by the 1st Lord Dorchester, the Governor of Quebec, and Governor General of The Canadas, to American Loyalists who resettled in British North America duri ...
s and proposed travel restrictions on those trafficking in property confiscated during the American Revolution
The American Revolution was an ideological and political revolution that occurred in British America between 1765 and 1791. The Americans in the Thirteen Colonies formed independent states that defeated the British in the American Revolut ...
. One of its sponsors, MP Peter Milliken, went on to serve as Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons.
Presidents Bill Clinton
William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...
, George W. Bush
George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...
, Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, Obama was the first African-American president of the U ...
and Donald Trump
Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021.
Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...
all signed a waiver of parts of the law.
Effective May 10, 1999, with CFR Title 31 Part 515, the act was amended. In 2000, the law was further amended with the passage of the Trade Sanction Reform and Export Enhancement Act, which allowed the export of US agriculture and medical goods to Cuba so long as certain conditions were met.
See also
* Godfrey–Milliken Bill
* Cuba–United States relations
Cuba and the United States restored diplomacy, diplomatic relations on July 20, 2015. Relations had been severed in 1961 during the Cold War. U.S. diplomatic representation in Cuba is handled by the Embassy of the United States, Havana, United ...
References
Further reading
* LeoGrande, William M. "Enemies evermore: US policy towards Cuba after Helms-Burton." ''Journal of Latin American Studies'' 29.1 (1997): 211–221.
Online
*
* Scharfen, Jonathan R. "The Helms-Burton Act: A Strategic Critique." (US Army War College Strategic Research Project, 1998
Online
* White, Nigel D. "Ending the US embargo of Cuba: international law in dispute." ''Journal of Latin American Studies'' 51.1 (2019): 163–186.
Online
External links
Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act (full text)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Helms-Burton Act
Acts of the 104th United States Congress
Anti-communism in the United States
Cuba–United States relations
United States foreign relations legislation
United States federal trade legislation
Opposition to Fidel Castro
Jesse Helms
1996 in international relations
Boycotts of Cuba
Sanctions legislation
United States sanctions