The Helms-Burton Act

On February 24, 1996, two civilian planes were shot down by Cuban MIG fighters. Aboard the planes were four Cuban-Americans who worked with Brothers to the Rescue, a Miami-based group of Cuban exiles opposed to the Castro Government. Brothers to the Rescue has a history of harassing the Cuban government and had airdropped anti-Castro literature over Havana just before the planes were attacked. Although Cuba defended their actions by contending that the planes were shot down within the territorial limits of Cuba, the United States--none too fond of Cuba and ready to defend its citizens--countered with claims that the downings had occured over international airspace.

There has been a United States embargo against Cuba for nearly 40 years now, and the severity of the restrictions has varied from administration to administration. The push to tighten, once again, the embargo began in Congress during the beginning of Clinton's first term in the Oval Office, but received little Presidential support. The downing of the Brothers to the Rescue's planes, in addition to what was perceived as Clinton's need for a get-tough policy against Cuba in order to carry Florida during the 1996 Presidental elections, finally prompted him to sign the Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity Act. The Helms-Burton Act, as it is better known, is a multi-faceted bill which restricts both American and foreign freedoms. Its primary concern is property confiscated from current American citizens during the 1959 Cuban Revolution. First, it denies visas to anyone who has done business with property that was confiscated during the revolution. Second, it gives American citizens the right to file in domestic courts for financial compensation for the property they lost. This right, though, is followed with the stipulation that the President has the right to waive this rule every six months if the courts are becoming inundated with lawsuits. Finally, the Helms-Burton Act also restricts the movement of Cuban diplomats within the US, closes off charter air routes to and from Cuba, and expands the broadcasting range of the government-supported, anti-Castro radio station, Radio Marti.

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Copyright ©1997, Sarah Richardson and Dory Weiss