HAVANA, Cuba—The United States andCuba appear to be moving to normalized relationsand the end of more than 50 years of trade embargo,Bloomberg noted last week that the issue of compensationfor those individuals and corporation's whose property was seizedin the 1959 revolution is still in play.

Under the 1996 Helms-Burton Act, the U.S. can'tlift its embargo until the Cuban and American governments agree tosettle the outstanding claims. Under another law, it will fall tothe U.S. State Department to negotiate the valueof the claims with the Cuban government. The two nations may settlefor a fraction of the $7 billion (by today'saccounting) owed.

The impoverished island nation cannot afford to pay the fullamount of losses that have been claimed since the nationalizedafter Fidel Castro's revolution, and Bloombergsays some estimates put the country's ability to pay those claimsat about 2%.