In a landmark ruling, a federal jury in the Southern District of Florida awarded $29.8 million to a Cuban-American plaintiff in the first trial under the Helms-Burton Act, specifically in the case of Echevarría et al. v. Expedia Group, Inc. et al.
The decision represents a significant triumph for the plaintiffs who invoked Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, allowing Cuban Americans to seek damages from companies that benefit from properties confiscated during the Castro regime. The plaintiffs were represented by the law firm Rivero & Mestre, which highlighted the historic nature of this case on their website.
“This is a great victory not only for our client but also for the Cuban American community in general,” stated attorney Andrés Rivero. “Our clients’ properties were unjustly usurped and exploited by American companies in collaboration with the Cuban communist dictatorship.”
Rivero expressed pride in facilitating justice under a law that had never been tested before a jury until now. The ruling allows for triple damages against defendants who continue to operate after being notified of a claim without compensating the original owners of the confiscated properties.
The jury’s findings resulted in an award of $9,950,000 in treble damages against each of the four corporate defendants, culminating in a total judgment of $29,850,000 for each.
The plaintiff, Mario Echevarría, a Cuban-American who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1983, claimed ownership of lands in Cayo Coco that were expropriated from his family as part of the Cuban government’s Agrarian Reform Law in 1959.
Echevarría’s lawsuit specifically targeted Expedia Group, along with its subsidiaries Hotels.com LP, Hotels.com GP, and Orbitz LLC. The complaint alleged that these companies facilitated bookings at hotels built on his family’s confiscated land, profiting without any legal authorization.
Among the properties referenced in the lawsuit were the Iberostar hotels Mojito, Iberostar Colonial, and Pullman Cayo Coco, all of which were implicated in the trafficking of expropriated property.
Federal Judge Federico Moreno oversaw the case and noted that the defendants had reaped economic benefits by offering reservations at these hotels. However, they neglected to investigate whether these properties were situated on confiscated land.
Testimony during the trial revealed a lack of diligence on Expedia’s part. An employee admitted that neither the parent company nor its subsidiaries sought documentation from the Cuban government regarding the ownership status of the hotels in question. Furthermore, they failed to account for the legal ramifications of the Helms-Burton Act when marketing these services.
Despite the substantial ruling, Expedia Group, known as one of the largest travel platforms globally with annual revenues surpassing $13.6 billion, has yet to determine whether it will appeal the verdict in a higher court.
The origins of Echevarría’s claim date back to 2019 when he initially filed a lawsuit alongside three other Cuban Americans over properties in Varadero and Santa Cruz del Norte. After the case was dismissed in 2020, Echevarría reactivated his lawsuit separately in 2023, successfully bringing it before a jury.
Since its enactment in 1996 under President Bill Clinton’s administration, the Helms-Burton Act had remained in a suspended state for over 20 years due to concerns about potential diplomatic tensions. However, its reactivation during President Trump’s first term in 2019 has paved the way for lawsuits like this one, setting pivotal precedents in the ongoing battle for rights over properties confiscated in Cuba.
Rivero & Mestre is a well-established law firm recognized for its expertise in complex commercial litigation across state and federal courts in the U.S. The firm also engages in national and international arbitration and has built a strong reputation in dealing with matters involving financial institutions, antitrust law, intellectual property, and commercial and investment disputes in Latin America.
image source from：https://en.cibercuba.com/noticias/2025-04-20-u1-e129488-s27061-nid301309-tribunal-miami-ordena-expedia-pagar-298-millones
