Historic Helms-Burton Act case sets precedent for Cuban-American property claims
The federal jury in Miami made a revolutionary decision to award $29.85 million to Cuban-American Mario Echevarría in a lawsuit against Expedia Group and its subsidiaries.
The verdict came as a result of the first jury trial under the Helms-Burton Act, a U.S. law that permits Cuban citizens to seek damages from companies profiting from properties seized by the Cuban government.
The case
Echevarría is a naturalized U.S. citizen since 1983. He claimed ownership of land in Cayo Coco, Cuba. The property was expropriated from his family in 1959 under Fidel Castro’s Agrarian Reform Law…