Obama Renews Waiver on Cuba-Property Lawsuits

President Obama has informed Congress that he will waive for six months a 1996 law that permits lawsuits against foreign companies who use Cuban property once owned by Americans.

The waiver has become routine. Both President Bill Clinton and President George W. Bush blocked the ability of U.S. citizens to sue over properties seized after Cuba's 1959 revolution. The provision is contained in the Helms-Burton Act, sponsored by the late U.S. Sen. Jesse Helms and Rep. Dan Burton, which forbids U.S. officials from restoring full diplomatic relations with Cuba as long as either Fidel or Raul Castro is in charge.

Using language virtually identical to that which Bush used in his first waiver, Obama wrote Tuesday to members of Congress that the waiver is "necessary to the national interests of the United States and will expedite a transition to democracy in Cuba."

Cuban-American groups oppose the waiver, but the European Union supports it, calling the law a U.S. attempt to impose its anti-Cuba policy on other nations.

The letter from Obama came as Bush's final waiver was about to expire. It also came on the same day that the State Department said the U.S, and Cuba are renewing negotiations on the U.S.-Cuba migration accords. The talks' focus will be on promotion of safe, legal and orderly migration between the two countries.