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 News Around the Republic of Mexico | March 2006 
Mexican Government Fines Sheraton Hotel
 Ioan Grillo - Associated Press
| | The Maria Isabel Sheraton hotel, which is located in one of Mexico City's busiest corners is seen behind Mexico's famous Statue of Independence in this Feb. 4, 2006 file photo. The Mexican federal government fined the Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel about $112,000 (94,000) on Friday March 24, 2006 for expelling Cuban guests under pressure from the U.S. Treasury Department. The hotel had kicked out 16 Cuban officials attending a Feb. 2 meeting with U.S. oil executives. (AP/Marco Ugarte) |
Mexico City - A U.S.-owned hotel that expelled Cuban guests under pressure from the Treasury Department must pay $112,000 in fines for violating Mexican commerce law, the Mexican government said Friday.
The Sheraton Maria Isabel Hotel, located at Mexico City's Angel of Independence monument, kicked out 16 Cuban officials attending a Feb. 2 meeting with U.S. oil executives after receiving a warning from the Treasury Department that it was in danger of violating a four-decade trade embargo against the regime of Cuban President Fidel Castro.
Mexico's Foreign Relations Department said the hotel violated national commerce laws, which bar companies from discriminating against customers because of their nationality.
Officials at the New York-based Starwood Hotels & Resorts Inc, which owns the hotel, did not return calls placed after hours on Friday.
The February expulsion provoked an angry response from officials in Havana and Mexican lawmakers who said the United States was interfering in other countries' domestic affairs.
In February, the National Foreign Trade Council, which represents hundreds of U.S. businesses, wrote a letter to Treasury Secretary John Snow urging the department not to continue putting companies in such a difficult position.
The Treasury Department responded saying that it was not considering any changes in its enforcement activities.
The trade embargo against Cuba began in 1963 when Cuba was added to a list of countries covered by the 1917 Trading with the Enemy Act. The law prohibits U.S. citizens and U.S. companies from doing business with countries on the list, although Congress has since made exceptions for cash sales of food and other agricultural products to Cuba. |
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