During the Obama-Biden Administration (2009-2017), its first official bilaterial discussion (not negotiation) about the 5,913 claims certified by the United States Foreign Claims Settlement Commission and valued at US$1.9 billion against the government of the Republic of Cuba was held on 8 December 2015- nearly one year after United States President Barack Obama began his 2,283-word statement with “Today, the United States of America is changing its relationship with the people of Cuba.”

During that meeting, according to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, "[the government of the Republic of Cuba] delegation explained the basis of their claims, particularly, the demands of the Cubans to the US government for human and economic damages, acknowledged by the Cuban courts."

There are 8,821 claims of which 5,913 awards valued at US$1,902,202,284.95 were certified by the United States Foreign Claims Settlement Commission (USFCSC) and have not been resolved for nearing sixty years (some assets were officially confiscated in the 1960’s, some in the 1970’s and some in the 1990’s).

During the entirety of the Obama-Biden Administration’s two terms there was never a seriously calibrated, consistent, and conditional effort to negotiate a settlement for the certified claims.

From 2015 to 2017, however, more than 150 officials of the Obama-Biden Administration visited the Republic of Cuba. Absent from each of those visits were reported official negotiations, not discussions, specifically related to the certified claims.

The Obama-Biden Administration had both self-created opportunity and responsibility of office to negotiate a settlement for the certified claimants. By not linking other areas of re-engagement and engagement with settlement of the certified claims, the Obama-Biden Administration colluded with the [Raul] Castro-Machado Administration (2008-2018); acquiescing to an agenda designed in Havana rather than the agenda that should have been important to Washington. The Trump-Pence Administration (2017-2021) also had an obligation on behalf of the certified claimants to officially request from the Diaz-Canel-Valdes Mesa Administration (2018- ) a direct negotiation process. It did not.

The government of the Republic of Cuba has continued to reiterate that prior to a re-normalized bilateral relationship with the United States, among items on its list are: reparations for damages inflicted since 1960 by United States laws, regulations and policies; and removal of the United States naval base at Guantanamo Bay.

The reparations value reported by the government of the Republic of Cuba has ranged from US$100 billion to US$121 billion to US$800 billion to US$930 billion to US$1 trillion.

“Havana, Apr 25, 2022 (Prensa Latina News Agency): The damages caused by the United States to Cuba for more than 60 years of economic, commercial and financial blockade amount to 150 billion dollars, Foreign Minister Bruno Rodriguez said on Monday. At a press conference, the foreign minister explained that such losses amount to almost one trillion dollars when the depreciation of the dollar against the value of gold in the international market is taken into account. That is more than 12 million dollars a day and more than 365 million dollars a month to the detriment of a small and underdeveloped economy like Cuba’s, he stressed. Rodriguez said that this has an impact on families and is one of the causes of emigration from Cuba, fundamentally economic. The head of Cuban diplomacy also criticized the selective and discriminatory migration policy that the United States implements on Cubans. Washington bans travel, cuts off channels for regular and orderly emigration and fails to comply with agreements by which it committed itself to granting no fewer than 20,000 immigrant visas to Cuban citizens, Rodriguez remarked.”

Certified Claims Background

The USFCSC permitted simple interest (not compound interest) of 6% per annum (approximately US$114,132,137.10); with the approximate current value of the 5,913 certified claims is approximately US$8,750,130,510.77. The first asset (along with 382 enterprises the same day) to be expropriated by the Republic of Cuba was an oil refinery on 6 August 1960 owned by White Plains, New York-based Texaco, Inc., now a subsidiary of San Ramon, California-based Chevron Corporation (USFCSC: CU-1331/CU-1332/CU-1333 valued at US$56,196,422.73). From the certified claim filed by Texaco: “The Cuban corporation was intervened on June 29, 1960, pursuant to Resolution 188 of June 28, 1960, under Law 635 of 1959. Resolution 188 was promulgated by the Government of Cuba when the Cuban corporation assertedly refused to refine certain crude oil as assertedly provided under a 1938 law pertaining to combustible materials. Subsequently, this Cuban firm was listed as nationalized in Resolution 19 of August 6, 1960, pursuant to Cuban Law 851. The Commission finds, however, that the Cuban corporation was effectively intervened within the meaning of Title V of the Act by the Government of Cuba on June 29, 1960.”

The largest certified claim (Cuban Electric Company) valued at US$267,568,413.62 is controlled by Boca Raton, Florida-based Office Depot, Inc. The second-largest certified claim (International Telephone and Telegraph Co, ITT as Trustee, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Inc.) valued at US$181,808,794.14 is controlled by Bethesda, Maryland-based Marriott International; the certified claim also includes land adjacent to the Jose Marti International Airport in Havana, Republic of Cuba. The third-largest certified claim valued at US$97,373,414.72 is controlled by New York, New York-based North American Sugar Industries, Inc. The smallest certified claim is by Sara W. Fishman in the amount of US$1.00 with reference to the Cuban-Venezuelan Oil Voting Trust.

The two (2) largest certified claims total US$449,377,207.76, representing 24% of the total value of the certified claims. Thirty (30) certified claimants hold 56% of the total value of the certified claims. This concentration of value creates an efficient pathway towards a settlement.

Economic Eye On Cuba

Cuba Wants US$1 Trillion In Reparations From United States. Claimants Seek US$1.9 Billion For Assets Expropriated After 1959 Revolution. Cuba's Court Filings Indicate Unwillingness To Pay Anything.

U.S. - Cuba Trade and Economic Council, Inc.