Might Cuba’s Prensa Latina Have Provided Fodder For Libertad Act Lawsuits Against Bouygues In France and Global Port Holdings In United Kingdom/Turkey?

Bouygues S.A. Has Offices In United States; Office In ZED Mariel; Listed On Euronext Paris Which Has Connectivity With NYSE Euronext & ADRs Trade In The United States

Royal Caribbean Cruises And MSC Cruises, Both Defendants In Libertad Act Lawsuits, Have Investment Connectivity To Global Port Holdings

Potentially Pitting President Biden Against UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson And Turkey President Recep Tayyip Erdogan

Issues For Court: Standing (Who Can Sue) And Jurisdiction (Presence)

Issue For Plaintiffs- Can They Obtain Jurisdiction And Can They Locate, Gain Custody Of Assets Of Defendants

Paris, France-based Bouygues Batiment International S.A. (Bouygues S.A. 2020 revenues approximately US$40 billion) has since 1999 a substantial presence in the Republic of Cuba. The company “has handed over more than 30,000 rooms, or 50 percent of the accommodations offered in Cuba and 100 percent of those in five-star establishments.” Bouygues Construcción Cuba S.A. (Engineering and Construction) has a facility located in the ZED Mariel near the Port of Mariel. LINK To Presence and LINK To ZED Mariel

Video Of Packard Hotel In Havana Construction From Bouygues Batiment International S.A.: https://www.linkedin.com/posts/bouygues-b%C3%A2timent-international_inside-the-construction-of-packard-hotel-activity-6843462471047512064-U22g

In the United States (with approximately 9,600 employees), company projects have included Miami, Florida’s, Brickell City Centre & other Florida projects.

"Americaribe LLC is a general contractor with offices based in Miami, Florida and Los Angeles, California. We have operated in the U.S. and Caribbean construction market since 2002, delivering large-scale projects such as the iconic Brickell City Centre in Miami and the Waterfront Hotel in Trinidad & Tobago. We currently have operations in Florida, California, the Bahamas, Dominican Republic, Sint Marteen, Grand Cayman and Trinidad and Tobago. As a subsidiary of Bouygues Bâtiment International, a global player in construction with operations in more than 60 countries, Americaribe is able to apply its vast networks and capacity for technical and commercial innovation, cutting-edge engineering skills and expertise in development to offices, hotels, airports, hospitals, schools, housing, exhibition centers, leisure facilities, etc. The goal for Americaribe is to not only bring projects to reality with an outstanding quality, but to bring concepts of innovation all across the industry with its partners, constructing improved lifestyles for the better future. This motto, branching from Bouygues Bâtiment International, is what we paraphrase as "Shared innovation.”"

The France-based construction company reportedly has or had a role in the design and construction of the “Cuba Havana Port Project” and of a hotel to be located on piers adjoining the Port of Havana whose owner is described in United States legal filings as a United States-based corporation which has a claim on the property certified by the United States Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (USFCSC). The France-based construction company has a facility located on property whose owners in legal filings are described as individuals subject to United States jurisdiction who were Republic of Cuba nationals when the property was expropriated by the government of the Republic of Cuba.

In 2019, Havana Docks Corporation used Title III of the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act of 1996 (known as “Libertad Act”) as the basis to file lawsuits against Miami, Florida-based Carnival Cruise Lines, Geneva, Switzerland-based MSC Cruises, Miami, Florida-based Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings, and Miami, Florida-based Royal Caribbean Cruises for their use of the piers.

Title III authorizes lawsuits in United States District Courts against companies and individuals who are using a certified claim or non-certified claim where the owner of the certified claim or non-certified claim has not received compensation from the Republic of Cuba or from a third-party who is using (“trafficking”) the asset. LINK To Libertad Act Lawsuit Filing Statistics

In 2021, three international container shipping companies- Copenhagen, Denmark-based A.P. Moller-Maersk, Jacksonville, Florida-based Crowley Maritime Corporation, and Miami, Florida-based Seaboard Marine Ltd were sued by Odette Blanco De Fernandez Née Blanco Rosell and others for their use of the Port at Mariel, a four-crane Super-Panamax vessel capable facility located approximately twenty-five miles from the city of Havana. The plaintiffs in the lawsuits claim their property includes the land upon which ZED Mariel was constructed.

Istanbul, Turkey-based Global Ports Holding PLC (2019 revenues exceeded US$117.9 million), which also has a registered office in London, United Kingdom, and is listed on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) signed in 2018 “a management agreement in Cuba to advise and consult on cruise port management best practice. The cruise terminal is in the Sierra Maestra complex, in San Francisco pier, with a current capacity for two ships.” In the company’s latest financial reporting, US$1,618,000.00 was referenced as “Habana Management Fee.”

MSC Cruises and Royal Caribbean Cruises are shareholders in “equity-accounted investments” with Global Ports Holding. Royal Caribbean Cruises has a 44% shareholding in Barcelona Port Investments, S.L., and 25% shareholding in Venezia Investmenti Srl. MSC Cruises has a 25% shareholding in Venezia Investmenti Srl., and 50% shareholding in Goulette Cruise Holding. LINK To Annual Report

LINK: Global Ports Holding From Turkey Could Be Next To Be Sued Using Title III; President Erdogan Will React Harshly June 05, 2019

Prensa Latina News Agency
Havana, Republic of Cuba
22 August 2021

Havana Customs will be a hotel and tourist complex

“To crown the efforts to promote and recover island tourism, a beautiful work is underway that will transform the Havana Customs building into a hotel and cruise ship complex. Next to the sea in the bay the Hotel Real Aduana appears little by little, a building that has all the characteristics of becoming the most attractive accommodation in the capital of Cuba, based on the existing old structure. Considered by many the most beautiful building on Avenida del Puerto, the old Havana Customs House is restored to become a large Cruise Terminal. The large complex, with its three old breakwaters: San Francisco, La Machina and Santa Clara, has degree II protection, granted by the National Monuments Commission of Cuba.”

“This gives extra value to any undertaking that is carried out there, but requires the preservation of its architectural values, as reflected in reports from entities of the country's Ministry of Tourism (Mintur). The current Havana Customs building was inaugurated in 1914, where the San Francisco dock was once located, and extends for 300 meters along the Avenida del Puerto.”

“It was built by Barclays Parson & Klapp, and for almost half a century its dock, operated by the American company Havana Docks Corporation, was considered among the best in the world. In the building, which the Havana Dock shared with the Cuban State (according to the 1905 agreement) there were, in addition to the Havana Customs, and other official institutions such as the Harbor Master's Office. There were also the Maritime Police, the Doctors of the Port, the Immigration Department and the General Inspection of the Port.”

“The towers of the Havana Customs House, in addition to their decorative function and as viewpoints, concealed two water tanks in each one, which were the basis for the operation of the building's advanced fire-fighting system. The Havana Customs building can be considered eclectic, since it contains neoclassical elements with semicircular arches and a profusion of Creole tiles, with a typical Spanish colonial appearance. To complement the services of the Cruise Terminal, in part of the historic building appears the Hotel Real Aduana, a five-star hotel operated by Habaguanex with 55 rooms from which you can enjoy the wonderful surroundings that the bay of Havana offers.”

In 2016, Republic of Cuba government-operated Habaguanex S.A. was transferred from control by the Office of the Historian of the City of Habana to Republic of Cuba government-operated Gaviota Hoteles S.A. controlled by Republic of Cuba government-operated Grupo de Administracion Empresarial (GAESA) which is controlled by the Revolutionary Armed Forces (FAR) of the Republic of Cuba.

From Bouygues: Iberostar Grand Packard Hotel- “Bouygues Bâtiment International is renovating a hotel from the early 20th century, the Packard Hotel [321 rooms]. This hotel is constructed from a combination of metal and concrete and will become a benchmark for 5-star hotels in Havana. This little miracle was designed by Michel Regembal, architect of the Stade de France stadium. [320 tonnes of metal structure. 345 tradesmen.]. One peculiarity about this site is that it is one of the eight pilot sites on which Bouygues Bâtiment International is rolling out ‘lean management’, a participative, collaborative and visual form of scheduling in which each task is very precisely defined.” Project completed 2019.

From Bouygues: Gran Hotel Manzana Kempinski La Habana- “The Gran Hotel Manzana project (Cuba) consisted of the transformation of a building in the historic centre of Havana into a 5* hotel. The reconversion of this heritage building was based on 3 principles: the restoration of the façade to exactly how it was, the renovation of the shopping gallery on the ground floor and the creation of an interior patio. [33,662 square meters of elegance]. The Gran Hotel Manzana has 246 rooms, 50 of which are suites, 4 bars, 2 restaurants and an infinity edge pool on the roof. The handover of this emblematic project took place in April 2017.” Bouygues Bâtiment International was the contractor for the project.

From ZED Mariel: “Mariel Special Development Zone [ZED Mariel] is the first of its type in Cuba and enjoys a privileged geographic location, in the center of the Caribbean Sea, at the crossroads of the main maritime commercial traffic routes in the Western Hemisphere. The Office of Mariel Special Development Zone is the entity attached to the Council of Ministers, in charge of managing the Zone, controlling its activities, elaborating and conducting its Development and Business Program. ZED Mariel provides a world class production and logistics platform which will enable an increase in national production levels, reduce import costs, boost growth, create jobs and facilitate direct foreign investment. It is an area of the national territory, located in the north of Artemisa province, 45 km west of Havana, regulated by special regimes and policies, designed to attract investment in the production of goods and the provision of services with added value, using knowledge and innovation, as well as clean technologies, generating industrial concentration to replace imports, boost exports and generate new sources of employment. Goods and services generated in ZED Mariel can be traded with all legal entities established in the country, inside or outside Mariel. Exports from Cuba are exempted from customs tariffs.”

Libertad Act Title III Lawsuits

HAVANA DOCKS CORPORATION V. NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE HOLDINGS, LTD. [1:19-cv-23591; Southern Florida District]

Colson Hicks Eidson, P.A. (plaintiff)
Margol & Margol, P.A. (plaintiff)
Hogan Lovells US LLP (defendant)

HAVANA DOCKS CORPORATION VS. ROYAL CARIBBEAN CRUISES, LTD. [1:19-cv-23590; Southern Florida District]

Colson Hicks Eidson, P.A. (plaintiff)
Margol & Margol, P.A. (plaintiff)
Holland & Knight (defendant)

HAVANA DOCKS CORPORATION V. MSC CRUISES SA CO, AND MSC CRUISES (USA) INC. [1:19-cv-23588; Southern Florida District]

Colson Hicks Eidson, P.A. (plaintiff)
Margol & Margol, P.A. (plaintiff)
Venable (defendant)

HAVANA DOCKS CORPORATION VS. CARNIVAL CORPORATION D/B/A/ CARNIVAL CRUISE LINES [1:19-cv-21724; Southern Florida District]

Colson Hicks Eidson, P.A. (plaintiff)
Margol & Margol, P.A. (plaintiff)
Jones Walker (defendant)
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP (defendant)
Akerman (defendant)

ODETTE BLANCO DE FERNANDEZ née BLANCO ROSELL, Plaintiff v. A.P. MOLLER-MAERSK A/S (a/k/a A.P. MOLLER-MAERSK GROUP); MAERSK A/S (a/k/a MAERSK LINE A/S); MAERSK, INC.; and MAERSK AGENCY U.S.A., INC [2:21-cv-00339; Eastern District of Louisiana]. Pusateri, Johnston, Guillot & Greenbaum, LLC (plaintiff)

Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Fields PLLC (plaintiff)

ODETTE BLANCO DE FERNANDEZ née BLANCO ROSELL, Plaintiff, v. CROWLEY MARITIME CORPORATION, Defendant. [3:20-cv-01426 Middle District Florida; Transferred To Florida Southern District 1:21-cv-20443].

Murphy & Anderson, P.A. (plaintiff)
Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Fields PLLC (plaintiff)
Law Offices of John S. Gaebe P.A. (plaintiff)
Horr, Novak & Skipp P.A. (plaintiff)
Venable LLP (defendant)

ODETTE BLANCO DE FERNANDEZ née BLANCO ROSELL, Plaintiff, v. SEABOARD MARINE, LTD., Defendant. [1:20-cv-25176; Southern Florida District].

Horr, Novak & Skipp, P.A. (plaintiff)
Law Offices of John S. Gaebe (plaintiff)
Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP (plaintiff)
Fields (plaintiff)
Barakat Law (plaintiff)
Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP (defendant)