The Trump administration intends to announce Wednesday that it will allow U.S. citizens to sue companies doing business in Cuba, according to a senior administration official.
Marking another break from Trump’s predecessors that threatens to upend relations with allies, the administration plans to enforce a provision of a 1996 law known as Helms-Burton that allows Cubans who fled Fidel Castro’s regime to sue companies that have used their former property on the island.
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Every president since Bill Clinton has suspended the section of the act that would allow such lawsuits because they could snarl companies from U.S.-allied countries – like the U.K., France and Spain – in years of complicated litigation that could prompt international trade claims against the United States.
The senior administration official said going forward, there will be no more waivers. The official spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement.
The Trump administration has signaled plans to end the waivers. It's taking the step in retaliation for Cuba's support of embattled Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro, whom the U.S. is trying to oust in favor of opposition leader Juan Guaido.
White House National Security Adviser John Bolton plans to deliver a speech in Miami -- home to thousands of exiles and immigrants from Cuba, Venezuela and Nicaragua – criticizing those governments as a “troika of tyranny.”
The speech at the Bay of Pigs Veterans Association is being delivered on the 58th anniversary of the United States' failed 1961 invasion of the island, an attempt to overthrow the Cuban government.
Fox News' Kellianne Jones and The Associated Press contributed to this report.