Mexico fines US hotel in Cuba row

Mexico fines US hotel in Cuba row

Local authorities in Mexico City have fined a US-owned hotel, at the
centre of a diplomatic row, $15,000 (£8,500).

They said the branch of the Sheraton chain had discriminated against 16
Cuban officials by expelling them from its premises last month.

The delegation was ordered out to comply with a US embargo against Cuba.
A US law bans American companies from doing business with the island.

The hotel denied discrimination and said it would appeal the decision.

The Cuban delegation was due to meet a group of US businessmen opposed
to the embargo at the Maria Isabel Sheraton hotel in Mexico City's
central Cuauhtemoc district on 4 February.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., which owns the Sheraton
chain, said the company was asked by the US Treasury Department to tell
the Cubans to leave.

Separate accusations

The Mexican government launched an investigation saying the firm might
have broken the law by expelling the delegation.

Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez insisted at the time that the US
law could not be applied in a third country.

In Washington, State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said the
Sheraton in Mexico City was a subsidiary of a US-owned hotel group and
therefore subject to US laws and regulations.

The local authorities in Cuauhtemoc, who imposed the fine, have made
clear its sanctions are independent from those that could be applied by
the federal government.

The same authorities closed the hotel in late February, alleging the US
company committed a series of irregularities such as unauthorised
building work and failure to provide a menu in Braille.

The hotel appealed the ruling, insisting it complied with Mexican laws,
and reopened soon after.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/americas/4778268.stm

Published: 2006/03/06 12:21:49 GMT