By Doreen Hemlock The
Sun-Sentinel. Web-posted: 9:53 p.m. Nov. 2, 2000
You can't legally buy Cuban cigars in the United States today, but already
there's a lawsuit over the possibility of those sales in the future.
A leading U.S. cigar company filed suit Thursday in Miami against a
European giant that distributes Cuban stogies overseas. The suit claims the
European firm is jawboning U.S. retailers to buy its non-Cuban products now, if
the retailers hope to buy Cuban cigars later.
New York-based General Cigar Holdings Inc. asked U.S. District Court to
stop the alleged practice by its larger rival, Madrid-based Altadis SA and
Altadis' U.S. units, which include the former Consolidated Cigar Holdings Inc.
of Fort Lauderdale. The antitrust and unfair trade suit also seeks damages.
The action comes as Washington is easing sales of food and medicine to
Cuba, part of what some see as a piecemeal dismantling of the four-decade-old
U.S. embargo against the communist-led island. The embargo bans Cuban sales to
the states.
A lawyer for General Cigar said the jawboning allegedly began in recent
months, as Congress debated the bill to ease sales to Cuba.
Altadis -- formed last year by the merger of Spain's tobacco giant
Tabacalera and France's Seita -- already carried weight as a major distributor
of other cigar products in Europe. It also dominated about 25 percent of the
U.S. market by owning Consolidated.
Then, in September, the suit says, Altadis bought 50 percent of Cuba's
state-controlled cigar marketing company, Habanos SA, boosting its power to
distribute prized Cuban stogies.
That increased clout apparently went to Altadis' head, said General
Cigar attorney Ignacio Sanchez at the Miami office of Verner Liipfert.
"They (Altadis) were going to retailers ... and saying Cuban cigars
are going to be available soon," said Sanchez. "And by the way, we
have the rights to distribute them. So, you better load up on our non-Cuban
cigars now, or we won't consider you for Cubans later."
Altadis USA in Fort Lauderdale could not be reached for comment late
Thursday.
The case also raises the thorny issue of U.S. properties seized by the
Cuban government led by Fidel Castro -- without compensation.
General Cigar claims that Cuba's Habanos -- part-owned by Altadis -- is
using confiscated U.S. properties, including a warehouse that General Cigar had
owned in Havana. The U.S. Helms-Burton law, which tightens the embargo on Cuba,
calls for sanctions against companies that have "trafficked" in
confiscated properties.
"When the embargo was put in place it almost destroyed General
Cigar, because they had depended on Cuban leaf," said attorney Sanchez. "Now,
to let a Cuban government cigar monopoly try to destroy them again, it's just
blatantly unfair."
Doreen Hemlock can be reached at dhemlock@sun-sentinel.com or
305-810-5009.
Copyright 2000, Sun-Sentinel Co. & South Florida
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