Mexico will protect its companies with business in Cuba before US sanctions

With this positioning, Mexico ratified its support for the end of the economic and commercial blockade imposed on Cuba. And it assured that it will support its companies because the measure may affect foreign companies in Cuba.

Mexico lamented on Wednesday the US decision to apply Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, which allows claims to companies from third countries linked to an expropriated property in the Cuban Revolution, and assured that it will protect its companies that do business or have an interest in doing it on the island.

"As it has done historically, Mexico rejects the application of unilateral trade laws with an extraterritorial nature, because they violate the norms of international law," the Mexican Foreign Ministry said in a bulletin.

By establishing its position on the announcement of the application of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, Mexico ratified its support for the end of the economic and commercial blockade imposed on Cuba.

The application of this Title will allow US citizens to file lawsuits as of May 2 against companies that use confiscated properties after the Cuban Revolution in 1959.

Mexico pointed out that the measure may affect foreign companies in Cuba, so "it will protect Mexican companies that do or have an interest in doing business with Cuba and that could be affected."

On this day, the Secretary of State of the United States, Mike Pompeo, announced the activation for the first time in the history of a measure that will allow claiming before US courts properties expropriated by the Cuban Revolution.

"The Administration of (Donald) Trump will no longer suspend Title III (of the Helms-Burton Act), a decision that will take effect on May 2," Pompeo told a news conference.

This policy change will open the door to demands in the US against companies around the world, including Spanish hotel chains such as Meliá, Barceló, and Iberostar; as well as the Canadian company Sherritt, dedicated to the mining sector and one of the main foreign investors on the island.

United Kingdom condemns new US sanctions against foreign companies with business with Cuba

The United Kingdom expressed its concern over the new requirements of the United States for foreign companies to stick to their sanctions against Cuba, which were rejected by Great Britain and other European nations.

"The extraterritorial application (...) of sanctions, which we consider illegal under international law, threatens to damage European and British companies that do legitimate business in Cuba by exposing them to liability before US courts," it said in a statement on Thursday the Office of Foreign Affairs of the United Kingdom.

"We will work together with the EU to protect the interests of our companies," the statement added.

On Wednesday, the Donald Trump administration imposed new sanctions and other punitive measures on the governments of Cuba and Venezuela, seeking to increase US pressure on Havana to stop supporting Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro.