SCHOLARS WEIGH CLAIMS OVER CUBAN ASSETS

Via AP:

Americans looking to recoup Cuban assets seized after Fidel Castro took power in 1959 likely won’t get the billions they hope to seek after Castro dies, a federally financed study concluded.

The study, released Thursday, said they instead should settle for development rights and tax breaks that would let them profit from a new Cuba.

It was commissioned by the U.S. Agency for International Development and conducted by scholars at Creighton University. They were asked to consider how Cuba, which has been under communist rule now for nearly a half-century, might settle long-pending claims after the 81-year-old Castro dies.

Nearly 6,000 American claims for homes and businesses seized by the regime have been determined valid by the U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission. The study values them at about $6 billion in current dollars, with interest. Many of the claimants are Cuban-Americans who were Cuban when their property was expropriated.

The study suggests that if Cuba tried to pay the claims back in hard currency, it would be able to pay only a few cents on the dollar. Instead, the study suggests settling claims in ways that will foster Cuba’s growth, by giving claimants opportunities to flourish with the island nation.

Click here to read the study.

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