United Kingdom Rejects New U.S. Sanctions Against Cuba

The British government described today as extraterritorial and illegal the decision of the United States to allow their nationals to establish lawsuits against foreign enterprises operating in Cuba.

The extraterritorial application of Title III (of the Helms-Burton Law), which we consider illegal under international law, threatens to hurt companies of the U.K. and the European Union that do legal business with Cuba, warned the local foreign ministry in a communiqué.

The text adds that the British government will work jointly with its European partners to protect the interests of those enterprises.

The eve, the U.S. Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, announced that starting next May 2, the Donald Trump administration will implement the full Title III of the controversial law sanctioned by then president Bill Clinton in 1996.

Under that chapter, U.S. citizens will be able to present lawsuits against businesspeople and companies which have investments in properties nationalized by Cuba after the triumph of the revolution in 1959.

Until now, all U.S. Presidents, including Trump, had suspended every six months the application of Title III, with which he tries to internationalize the unilateral blockade Washington maintains against the Caribbean islands for over 50 years, and frighten-off foreign investment.