International Law: Diplomatic Escape Hatch

Not the least among victims of Fidel Castro's Communism are the many foreign creditors whose claims have been ignored or laughed at by the Cuban government. Some 4,000 claims — totaling well over $1 billion — are pending against Cuba. They have been filed mostly by big rubber, oil and sugar companies whose assets were grabbed by Castro. Their chances of collection? Under present conditions, exactly zero. The firms are blocked by the hoary doctrine of "sovereign immunity."

In its original form, the doctrine entitled a foreign nation to immunity from all...

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