FSIA Immunity and the Helms Burton Act
On June 23, 2026, the U.S. Supreme Court released its major decision in Exxon Mobil Corp. v. Corporación Cimex, S. A. (Cuba) regarding the 1996 Helms Burton Act, which allows U.S. citizens and corporations to sue Cuban and international entities trafficking in Cuban land seized by the Cuban government during the 1960s Castro Regime. In 2019, oil company Exxon Mobil Corp. sued several Cuban corporations that operated and profited from land seized by the Castro regime in the 1960s, and that had been owned by Exxon before the seizure.
The Cuban companies are owed by the government and claimed immunity from such a suit under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, under which foreign states and entities, such as these corporations, are not subject to the jurisdiction of U.S. courts except under a few narrow exceptions. In this instance, lower courts sided with the Cuban companies, ruling that Exxon's suit did not fall under any exception to the FSIA, and that Exxon needed to demonstrate otherwise if the suit was to proceed. Exxon appealed, arguing that under the Helms Burton Act, FSIA claims are waived in instances like this.
The Supreme Court reversed the decision of the lower court, finding in favor of Exxon, and ruled that because the Helms Burton Act, also known as the Libertad Act, was written explicitly to allow U.S. citizens and corporations to sue Cuban corporations, the HBA automatically carves out an exception to FSIA, and plaintiffs are not required to find another one. -- By John Capwell, Senior Legal Assistant, Berliner Corcoran & Rowe LLP.
Tue, / Embassy Law Link