American Airlines And LATAM Airlines Group Sued Using Libertad Act; Other Airlines Reportedly Notified Of Potential Lawsuits
/LATAM Airlines Group Subsidiaries
LATAM Argentina
LATAM Brasil
LATAM Chile
LATAM Colombia
LATAM Ecuador
LATAM Paraguay
LATAM Peru
LATAM Group Shareholders (Wikipedia)
Cueto Group- 27.91%
Chile Administradoras de Fondos de Pensiones (AFP - Chilean Pension Funds)- 21%
Qatar Airways- 10.03% (would like 20%)
Chile Eblen Group- 5.93%
Chile Bethia Group- 5.5%
United States American depositary receipts (ADR)- 3.98%
Brazil Amaro Group- 3%
Foreign investors- 10.2%
Others- 12.2%
“Rivero Mestre files Helms-Burton Act lawsuit against American Airlines on behalf of rightful owner of José Martí International Airport; seeks treble damages
MIAMI—Sept. 25, 2019—Rivero Mestre filed a Helms-Burton Act lawsuit on behalf of José Ramon López Regueiro, the rightful owner of Cuba’s main airport—José Martí International Airport—against American Airlines and LATAM Airlines Group. More than forty cargo and passenger airlines are unlawfully trafficking in and benefitting from the airport by operating cargo and passenger flights into and out of the airport without permission from, or compensation to, Mr. Regueiro. All of them received notices warning them to cease and desist or face suit. The defendants did not comply with the 30-day notices of plaintiff’s intent to sue, which gives Mr. Regueiro the right to seek treble damages.
Regueiro is the son of José López Vilaboy, who during his ownership of the airport in the 1950s, transformed it from a small, outdated airport into Cuba’s main international airport, serving Havana and surrounding cities. The Cuban government confiscated the airport without any compensation to Vilaboy shortly after the communist Castro regime seized power in 1959. Since then, a number of airlines, including U.S.-based airlines, have routinely used the airport for transporting cargo and passengers.
The Helms-Burton Act provides Cuban-Americans whose properties in Cuba were confiscated by the communist Castro dictatorship, with the right to recover damages from persons and entities that traffic in, or benefit from trafficking in, their properties. The Act also provides for treble damages against a defendant that received prior notice of the claim and did not stop its trafficking or compensate the owners of the confiscated property.”
As reported by WLRN in Miami, Florida, Mr. Andres Rivero shared “We have decided to start with American and LATAM,” he said. “We have notified all of the airlines. They need to stop trafficking in Jose Marti International Airport or they will very likely face litigation.”
LINK To 1:19-cv-23964 (not yet available)
LINK To 1:19-cv-23965
LINK To Previous Posts:
https://www.cubatrade.org/blog/2019/9/21/ke1f5qg78x7aah1fjive07yqp4gw3i
