Quote:
Originally Posted by Jim B.
Lawyers, Lawsuits and Cuba
Our expert BENZ-LGB is back, he's gonna be ALL OVER this one.
Oye Ernesto, que piensas?
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A money judgment is the only way to hold a tortfeasor accountable for the harm/damages that he has caused. This is true whether the torfeasor is an individual, a corporation (say R.J. Reynolds) or a country.
For example, families of the victims of the Lockerbie (sp?) Pan-Am bombing sued the Lybian government--and won. For years the Lybian government refused to pay any compensation. In 2002 (I may be wrong about the year) Lybia finally relented and decided to pay money to the victims' families. This was done as part of Lybia's efforts to rejoin the world's community.
Cuba's communist government, with or without castro at the helm, needs to make good on these claims. They also need to make good on the claims for the property that they illegally nationalized. My family was not wealthy, not by any stretch of the imagination. But castro's government stole our house and stole the coffee business owned by my father's uncle. I have long ago given up hope of getting compensation for the home we lost. It is water under the bridge. But for the many people whose family members were murdered following phony trials in castro's kangaroo courts, financial compensation would be a nice form of closure.
Incidentally, I cannot see what connection there may be between the presence (strong or otherwise) of the Mafia in Cuba and the issue of compensation. Those guys (the Mafia) took their money out of Cuba long before Castro got settled into power. They were among the first people to bail out of Cuba.
Even if the money in American courts is Mafia money, who cares? As long as it goes to compensate victims, then it is OK. That is the principle behind criminal asset forfeiture laws. Take the bad guys' money away and then they will not profit form their criminal activity.
I think that basing one's opinions, about what should be done to compensate the victims of castro's murderous regime, on The Godfather II is a poor substitute for actual scholarship. Cuba did not have a stronger Mafia presence than Vegas, Atlantic City, New York, or any other major American city.
After all, movie lore holds that American labor unions were (or are) controlled by the mob. Is that any reason for ignoring all the work done by labor unions?
Just a thought.