Fallout Continues Over Expulsion of Cuban Delegation From Mexico City Hotel
Reuters reports that Mexico will not lodge a formal diplomatic complaint with the U.S. after the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control last week's ordered a U.S.-owned hotel to request a Cuban delegation to leave the hotel. In an interesting twist, it appears that local authorities are likely to close the hotel in the near future after inspectors found the hotel has committted safety and other violations.
The AP reports that the hotel still faces the prospect of monetary penalties in Mexico for complying with U.S. law in Mexico. Mexico's Interior Secretary Carlos Abascal said the Hotel Maria Isabel Sheraton in Mexico City "had without doubt violated Mexican law" by expelling a group of Cuban officials who were meeting with U.S. energy executives.
Mexico enacted the "Law of Protection of Commerce and Investments from Foreign Policies that Contravene International Law" in October 1996 to counteract the U.S. Cuban Liberty and Democratic Solidarity (Libertad) Act of 1996, commonly known as the Helms-Burton Act.