CUBA NEWS
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Bush Extends Waiver of Provision in
Law on Cuba
WASHINGTON, 14 (AP) - President Bush notified
Congress on Friday that he would maintain
a ban on lawsuits by U.S. citizens whose
property was taken by the Cuban revolution.
Bush said in a letter that the action
was "necessary to the national interests
of the United States and will expedite a
transition to democracy in Cuba."
The lawsuit provision was included in a
1996 law aimed at tightening sanctions against
Cuba.
Secretary of State Colin Powell recommended
that Bush renew the waiver, but some officials
urged that the provision be allowed to lapse,
thus opening the way to lawsuits.
Bush and President Clinton have exercised
the waiver at six-month intervals since
the law was passed in March 1996 shortly
after Cuban jet fighters shot down two unarmed
Miami-based planes north of Cuba.
A refusal to waive would give Americans
the right to sue any individual, investor
or business using property seized after
the Castro government took power in 1959.
It is believed that a number of suits would
be filed against foreign companies that
are doing business on expropriated property.
A failure to waive could complicate support
by European and other countries for a democratic
transition to Cuba, a goal long sought by
the United States.
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