Vietnam vet loses suit against VA to get benefits in Cuba

Vietnam vet loses suit against VA to get benefits in Cuba
By Michael Weissenstein
Associated Press
Published: February 17, 2016

HAVANA — A Cuban-American veteran of the Vietnam War lost his lawsuit
Wednesday seeking to force the U.S. government to restore the pension
that was cut off when he moved back to Cuba.

Otto Macias was 19 when he left Cuba, enlisted in the U.S. Army and
served as a machine-gunner in Vietnam. As he stayed with family in
Havana in 1980, he required hospitalization for a mental breakdown and
never returned to the U.S.

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs then ended his pension. Lawyer
Jason Flores-Williams says that was because of the Unite States' trade
embargo on Cuba.

On Wednesday, a U.S. Court of Appeals judge denied Macias' suit seeking
the restoration of the pension. The ruling said Macias failed to show he
had pursued his case with the secretary of veterans' affairs before
asking the courts to intervene.

Macias lives with his brother in a modest apartment in a high-rise in
east Havana. He is psychologically stable after years of treatment but
suffering from skin cancer and has said he would like to return to the
U.S. to visit if he was able.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has declined to comment on the case.

Source: Vietnam vet loses suit against VA to get benefits in Cuba -
Americas - Stripes -
http://www.stripes.com/news/americas/vietnam-vet-loses-suit-against-va-to-get-benefits-in-cuba-1.394657