Exxon can sue Cuba over property confiscated in 1960, Supreme Court rules | CNN Politics

The Supreme Court on Tuesday allowed Exxon Mobil to sue state-owned oil companies in Cuba over the confiscation of property that occurred after Fidel Castro’s regime seized power nearly seven decades ago, letting the lawsuit proceed at a time when President Donald Trump has taken an aggressive stance toward Havana. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote the opinion for a 6-3 majority with the liberal justices in dissent. The decision is the latest development in an unusual confluence of legal and geopolitical moves Washington has taken to increase pressure on Cuba. The Trump administration indicted former Cuban President Raúl Castro on May 20 on charges that stem from his alleged role in the 1996 shootdown of two civilian aircraft that killed four people, including three Americans. Trump has also flirted with military action in Cuba, telling reporters in March he might have the “honor of taking Cuba.” A day after the Castro indictment, the Supreme Court decided another case dealing with property seized by Cuba. In that decision, an 8-1 court allowed a lawsuit to proceed against the world’s largest cruise ship operators that had docked at Havana’s pier amid a thawing of rela