Trouble ahead ? The White House decided this month to activate a controversial provision of the U.S. embargo on Cuba as punishment for Havana’s role in propping up Nicolas Maduro’s regime in Venezuela. Beginning this week, Americans will be allowed to file lawsuits over property confiscated in the 1959 revolution that brought Fidel Castro to power.
The claim against Sherritt’s nickel mine on the eastern end of the island is valued at $88.3 million, before interest, making it the third-largest of nearly 6,000 cases against Cuba that were already certified by the U.S. Department of Justice. The Trump administration estimates its move opens the door to as many as 200,000 others.
Canada’s biggest investor on the island — now a penny stock, with its shares down more than 50 percent so far this year — is feeling the pinch of Cuba’s dire economic straits. The crisis in Venezuela has choked off oil imports, which Havana bartered for by sending doctors, nurses and teachers to Caracas. Trump’s decision to cap remittances and restrict U.S. travel will take even more hard currency out of circulation.
Pathe and other top Sherritt officials are already barred from entering the U.S. under a different section of Helms-Burton and the company has deliberately avoided any American ties because of the sanctions. It had $170 million in overdue receivables on its books in the first quarter, Pathe said, noting that balance has climbed as high as $240 million in the past, only to be paid eventually.
Pathe declined to offer any message to the U.S. government. “They will continue to do what they think they need to do and we will continue to run our business as best we can,” the Sherritt CEO said.
If the US stops oil and fuel from reaching the cuban island it could prove devastating for the continuation of mining and other industries there.