HAVANA, May 17 (Xinhua) -- The Cuban authorities said on Friday that Cuba will protect foreign entrepreneurs whose interests may be affected by U.S. hostility against Cuba.

The Cuban government will enforce "every kind of guarantee" within the national legal framework to shelter foreign companies from possible fallout after U.S. application of Title III of the Helms-Burton Act, said Cuban Minister of Foreign Trade and Investment Rodrigo Malmierca at a meeting with foreign businessmen and diplomats.

Washington recently activated Title III of the Helms-Burton Act to tighten sanctions against Havana.

The Title III of the Helms-Burton Act allows for lawsuits to be filed in U.S. courts against companies operating on properties the Cuban government seized after the year 1959. It had been suspended by every U.S. president since 1996.

The Cuban government has reiterated on several occasions that foreign companies have total legal security under the protection of the Law 118 of Foreign Investment which defends mutually advantageous investments.

The latest U.S. move was met with wide opposition from the European Union and Canada, whose companies have billions of dollars of investments in Cuba.