Expedia Fights Off Claim for Damages by Cuban Exile Families

The travel booking giant Expedia Group won a resounding victory in federal civil court in Miami on Monday against two Cuban Americans who had claimed the company and its affiliates exploited hotels and land they owned and that were confiscated by the Cuban government.

The plaintiffs sought to use a 1996 American law, the Helms-Burton Act, which allows naturalized American citizens to sue companies that “traffic” in property confiscated from their families in Cuba.

The plaintiffs argued that Expedia had engaged in unlawful trafficking by facilitating bookings at five hotels on land seized by the Cuban government after the 1959 revolution. The jury in Miami found, however, that the plaintiffs lacked concrete proof of ownership or official confiscation records for the properties.

A spokesperson for Expedia said in a statement after the verdict, “We’re pleased with the jury’s finding, which affirms the position we’ve held all along.”

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/31/world/americas/expedia-cuba-exiles-suit.html