In 1976, after the Arechabala family's Havana Club trademark registration expired, Cubaexport registered the brand in the US through a loophole in the trade embargo. Originally the Havana Club rum was created in Cuba by the Arechabala family in 1935, and was exported to the US and other countries until the 1960s, when Fidel Castro's government confiscated the brand and other assets without compensation.
MIAMI BEACH, UNITED STATES: TO GO WITH AFP STORY-AFPLIFESTYLE-US-CUBA BY PATRICK MOSER- A bartender pours from a Havana Club rum bottle as he prepares a mojito cocktail at a local jazz club in Miami Beach,Florida 17 August 2006.
