Societa Finanziaria Telefonica per Azioni, or Stet, the Italian state telecommunications holding company, has denied it is setting out terms on which to purchase Cuban assets that once belonged to ITT Corp. If the rumors are true, the company would escape sanctions imposed under the US Helmes-Burton Act, imposed after the Cuban revolution to penalize countries trafficking in property seized from Americans. The Italian controls 29% of the Cuban telephone firm, once owned by ITT before it was nationalized by Fidel Castro’s government. ITT said its phone company was worth $131m when it filed a claim against Cuba in 1970.
