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ATLANTA (CN) — A Cuban-American man who claims to have inherited a stake in the José Martí International Airport can sue American Airlines for “trafficking” in the property, an 11th Circuit panel unanimously ruled on Wednesday.
The three-judge panel overturned a Florida federal judge’s decision that dismissed the lawsuit filed by José López Regueiro under Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, a law allowing United States nationals to sue third parties over property confiscated during the Cuban revolution.
Regueiro has claimed that the airline trafficked in Cuba’s main domestic and international airport — which he says was confiscated from his family in 1959 — by operating flights in and out of it since 1991.
In dismissing the case, U.S. District Judge Jose Martinez, a George W. Bush appointee, had ruled that Regueiro was not a U.S. national when he acquired an interest in the airport and that Regueiro’s father was a Cuban national, not a U.S. citizen, when the property was confiscated.
Regueiro, who became a U.S. citizen in 2015 and sued in 2021, has argued the law only requires that a person be a U.S. citizen when filing their claim.
The 11th Circuit on Wednesday sided with Regueiro, ruling that the lower court incorrectly interpreted the law.
U.S. Circuit Judge Jill Pryor wrote in a 19-page decision that Title III “unambiguously” does not require a property to have been owned by a United States citizen when it was seized by the Cuban government and does not require a plaintiff to have been a U.S. national when he acquired an interest in the property.
“The act’s text encompasses plaintiffs who acquired the property before becoming United States citizens,” the Barack Obama appointee wrote.
The panel found that Regueiro had an interest in the confiscated property and was a United States citizen when he filed his lawsuit.
The law says “any person that … traffics in property which was confiscated by the Cuban government on or after January 1, 1959, shall be liable to any United States national who owns the claim to such property.”
Pryor ruled the term “any United States national” in the law “includes those United States nationals who became citizens after acquiring the property in question.”
“By allowing a plaintiff to bring a Title III claim even if she was not a United States citizen when the Cuban government confiscated her property, it is evident that the Helms-Burton Act also covers plaintiffs who acquired their property before becoming United States citizens,” Pryor wrote.
Pryor was joined in the decision by U.S. Circuit Judge Britt Grant and U.S. Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch, both appointees of Donald Trump.
The panel also rejected American Airlines’ argumentthat Regueiro cannot sue because he merely owns shares in a company that owns the airport. Pryor pointed to the 11th Circuit’s April decision in de Fernandez v. Seaboard Marine Ltd , in which the court held that the Helms-Burton Act allows shareholders to recover from defendants who illegally traffic in corporate assets.
“Our opinion in Fernandez establishes that that Regueiro can bring a Title III claim based on an ownership interest in CAISA, the company that owns the airport,” Pryor wrote. “Regueiro alleged that the Cuban government confiscated the airport and that CAISA owned the airport. He further alleged that he inherited his father’s shares in CAISA. At the motion to dismiss stage, these allegations of ownership are sufficient to state a claim.”
Attorney Andres Rivero of Rivero Mestre, who represents Regueiro, celebrated the decision in a statement Wednesday afternoon.
“We are very gratified that the 11th Circuit has correctly adopted our arguments and reopened Mr. Lopez Reguiero’s case against American Airlines for its exploitative trafficking in the Havana airport, which was stolen from Mr. Lopez-Reguiero’s family,” Rivero said. “We will continue to pursue traffickers like American Airlines and Expedia to stop and punish their shameful support for the repressive communist regime in Cuba.”
An attorney for American Airlines did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
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