Cuba defends its truth in appeals court

By Roberto Morejón

As announced in 2023, the National Bank of Cuba has resumed its expositions, this time in an appeals court in London, against the lawsuit of a vulture fund that pretends that the Antillean State is involved in the process.

Last year, a court ruled in favor of the Cuban state, freeing it from the lawsuit, although the Island is trying to prove that the judge was wrong in the previous case by not taking into account the evidence presented by the National Bank.

The entity of the Caribbean archipelago showed evidence that the vulture fund is alien to its financial instruments and has never been its creditor.

If this statement is proven, a process to analyze the key issue and whether or not to pay the debt claimed by the plaintiff could not be implemented in the future in another court.

Let us clarify that Cuba is appearing in the Court of Appeals against an entity that claims to be only an investment fund, although Havana qualifies it as a vulture fund.

The Group of 77 and China, among other international blocs, define vulture funds as entities that seek to prevent states from assuming sovereign foreign debt restructuring policies.

Regarding the hearing in London of the present lawsuit, representatives of the Banco Nacional de Cuba reiterated, in that there is no commitment of state assets in connection with the lawsuit. 

In this case, which is being heard in the civil section of the aforementioned court, the Caribbean nation is represented by the president of the National Bank, accompanied by Spanish and English lawyers, in accordance with the law.

The Cuban side argues that the vulture fund CRF I Limited is trying to distort the meaning of the victory of the Caribbean country in the English courts last year, since there was no judicial decision condemning the State of the Antillean Republic.

In her ruling, the judge declared immunity, but the National Bank of Cuba appeals the disposition to maintain the vulture fund in the process.

The progress of this case has been accompanied by a media campaign by the hegemonic press and the so-called independent press, financed from abroad, as well as in social networks.  

This offensive conceals CRF's intention to use the lawsuit to exclude the largest of the Antilles from the financial markets, while at the same time making people believe that this entity is a "responsible investor".

Cuba has reiterated that it will continue to defend its truth, which is that CRF is not a legitimate creditor of any of its institutions.