WASHINGTON.- The Sheraton Hotel chain on Sunday confirmed that it asked an official Cuban delegation staying at one of its Mexico City facilities to leave after it was pressured to do so by the U.S. government."The Treasury Department demanded that we deny access to the Mexico City Sheraton to the Cuban participants" in an energy conference being held there with U.S. businessmen, Ellen Gallo - the spokesperson for Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, which owns the Sheraton chain - told EFE.
She added that the firm had retained the money paid by the Cubans for their rooms at the María Isabel Sheraton and forwarded it to the U.S. government.
The measure was ordered in keeping with the "trade embargo against Cuba, as established by U.S. law," said Gallo, referring to the laws that prohibit U.S. citizens or firms from doing business or providing services to Cubans, including hotel services.
Two top Mexican government officials - who asked to remain unidentified - told EFE that the incident is "a matter between individuals," adding that "if any of the parties has felt affected, it must turn to the authorities responsible for taking care of the proper offering of goods and services."
The Cuban officials confirmed on Friday that they had been asked to leave the hotel, and they accused the U.S. government of pressuring the hotel chain to expel them, although that claim has not been corroborated by Washington.
The Cubans were participating in a three-day meeting with U.S. energy sector executives. After leaving the Sheraton, they transferred to another hotel and the meeting continued there.
Gallo also corroborated the complaint of the head of the Cuban delegation, Basic Industry Deputy Minister Raúl Pérez de Prado, that the hotel had retained the money paid by the Cubans for their reservations.
"The money they paid was sent to the Treasury Department´s Office of Foreign Assets Control on the orders of that office," she said.
The U.S. Treasury and the State Department have not responded to several telephone calls from EFE to gather information on the incident.
A U.S. Embassy official in Mexico City refused to say whether or not Washington pressured the hotel chain, but he did state that the United States "has very clear laws about dealing with the Cuban regime."
