US Supreme Court Clears Path for ExxonMobil to Sue Cuba Over Castro-Era Seizures

The U.S. Supreme Court has ruled that ExxonMobil may pursue litigation against Cuban state-owned entities in American courts for property confiscated following Fidel Castro’s rise to power.

The 6-3 decision, issued Tuesday, marks the second ruling in as many months favoring U.S. claimants whose assets were seized by the Communist government more than six decades ago. The outcome provides the Trump administration with additional leverage to pressure Cuba, which remains under a longstanding U.S. oil embargo.

At the center of the dispute was whether the 1996 Helms-Burton Act strips foreign sovereign immunity—the legal doctrine that typically shields foreign governments and their instrumentalities from lawsuits in U.S. courts. The justices reversed a lower court ruling that had granted immunity to the Cuban state-owned firms.

Writing for the majority, Justice Brett Kavanaugh held that the three-decade-old statute eliminates “the sovereign immunity of Cuban agencies and instrumentalities.” He explained that the Helms-Burton Act authorizes private suits against such entities—suits that would otherwise be nonstarters under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act of 1976 (FSIA).

The Court’s six conservative justices formed the majority. Justice Elena Kagan dissented, joined by the two other liberal members. She argued that plaintiffs should be required to demonstrate their claims fall within an FSIA exception, contending that “nothing in the text or ‘architecture’ of the Helms-Burton Act suggests that Congress abrogated the sovereign immunity of these defendants—much less that it did so with the requisite unmistakable clarity.”

ExxonMobil seeks compensation for assets formerly held by Standard Oil subsidiaries, including more than 100 service stations and an oil refinery.

Related Litigation

Last month, the Court revived a separate case involving confiscated Cuban property, allowing a U.S. company that once operated Havana docks to pursue claims against four cruise lines that called on the island during the brief diplomatic thaw under the Obama administration. That decision turned on the same Helms-Burton provision permitting suits over seized assets.

Congress enacted the law in response to the 1996 shootdown of civilian aircraft flown by Miami-based exiles. Title III of the statute enables Americans to sue virtually any entity that engages in commercial activity or benefits from property confiscated by the Cuban government.

Every president prior to the first Trump administration had suspended Title III, citing objections from U.S. allies doing business in Cuba and concerns about complicating future bilateral negotiations. President Trump lifted the suspension in 2019, prompting ExxonMobil to file suit against Corporación CIMEX the same day.

The U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, a Justice Department body, valued ExxonMobil’s Cuban holdings at $71.6 million in 1969, with 6 percent annual interest accruing from 1960—a sum estimated at roughly $3 billion today, before potential treble damages. The Commission also identified nearly 6,000 individuals and businesses holding claims worth $1.9 billion before interest or damages.

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