As diplomatic talks begin between the United States and Cuba, a sticking point could be the $6 billion in assets seized from American citizens and corporations during the 1959 revolution,
Fox News reports.
When Fidel and Raul Castro took control after the revolution, all businesses and private property were nationalized.
The two countries are working on normalizing relations, but the seized assets are still an issue more than 50 years later.
"The administration has not provided details about how it will hold the Castro regime to account for the more than $6 billion in outstanding claims by American citizens and businesses for properties confiscated by the Castros or the more than $2 billion in unpaid civil and criminal judgments rendered against the Castro regime by U.S. courts.," Sen. Robert Menendez wrote to Secretary of State John Kerry last week. Menendez is a New Jersey Democrat who sits on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
About 6,000 claims from individuals and businesses have been certified by the U.S. Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.
They include major companies, such as Hilton Hotels, but many of the companies have since gone bankrupt or merged with other companies. Some of the individuals owed money have died.
Many companies likely would settle for tax breaks and a chance to return to Cuba and do business, but individuals likely want cash. Cuba doesn't have it.
The Helms-Burton Act states that the embargo cannot be lifted until there is "demonstrable progress underway" to compensate the Americans.
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