Exxon Mobil on Friday sued Cuba’s state-owned Cuba-Petroleo and CIMEX Corp in US federal court seeking $280 million over a refinery, gasoline stations and other assets seized after Fidel Castro’s revolution.
Exxon, the largest US oil producer, is the first corporation to sue Cuba since the Trump administration allowed a long dormant section of the 1996 Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act, known as the Helms-Burton Act after its sponsors, to take effect on May 2.
The Trump administration has been ratcheting up pressure on Venezuela and Cuba. Previous presidents had waived the provision of the act that allows anyone whose property