U.S. hotel chain discuss handling Cuba sanctions

Posted on Sat, Feb. 18, 2006

U.S.-CUBA RELATIONS
U.S., hotel chain discuss handling Cuba sanctions

The State and Treasury departments and a U.S. hotel chain discussed the
recent eviction of Cubans from a U.S.-owned hotel in Mexico.
BY PABLO BACHELET
pbachelet@MiamiHerald.com

WASHINGTON - The Bush administration is reviewing the way it implements
economic sanctions against Cuba after a U.S.-owned hotel in Mexico
ejected a Cuban delegation from its premises and triggered a diplomatic
row, officials confirmed Friday.

Representatives from the Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets
Control, the State Department and the Starwood Hotels & Resorts
Worldwide met to discuss Cuban sanctions on Friday.

The meeting came a day after Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice told a
House panel that ''dislocations'' caused by the sanctions would be
looked at.

She said the administration is seeking to enforce policies more
effectively to ensure that the communist government of Cuban leader
Fidel Castro is ``not capable of replicating itself later on.''

`DISLOCATIONS'

''Where there are dysfunctions or dislocations, of course, we have to go
and we have to look to see what some of the actual impact is,'' she
said, noting that she had discussed the incident during a meeting with
the Mexican foreign minister earlier this week.

Friday's meeting with hotel representatives was the first formal meeting
since the Feb. 3 incident, when Treasury warned Starwood that it may
have broken U.S. laws by housing a 16-member Cuban delegation attending
an energy conference in its Sheraton María Isabel hotel in Mexico City.

The hotel management decided to evict the Cubans and the conference
continued at another hotel. The Mexican government launched an
investigation and may fine the hotel $500,000 for breaking
anti-discrimination laws.

''I can confirm that various elements in the State Department have
spoken with Treasury, including OFAC representatives, about the Sheraton
incident,'' a State Department official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue. The official said the
group talked about the ''implementing policy'' of the sanctions.

The meeting was attended by officials from the State Department's
Western Hemisphere bureau, the legal department and the economics
bureau. Starwood declined to comment.

RECONSIDERING

The meeting provided further evidence that the Bush administration is
reconsidering its decision to expand the enforcement of the Cuban
embargo to include smaller transactions, like hotel bookings.

U.S. companies are prohibited from knowingly selling goods and services
to Cuban nationals anywhere in the world without obtaining a license
first, but the laws are rarely enforced.

http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/world/americas/13902265.htm