Mexico expects to close hotel over Cuba dispute

MEXICO CITY (Reuters) – Mexico City authorities are likely
to close a Sheraton hotel in the capital that threw out Cuban
officials on orders of Washington, a move that angered Mexicans
who say the country’s sovereignty was abused.

Municipal inspectors who carried out a check of the hotel
after the Cubans’ expulsion found it had infringed local safety
and licensing laws, district council head Virginia Jaramillo
said on Wednesday.

“I expect imminent closure of the hotel,” said Jaramillo,
of the left-wing Party of the Democratic Revolution.

While the hotel can challenge the closure, Jaramillo said
many violations would be impossible to remedy before a five-day
deadline.

The towering hotel overlooking the Angel of Independence,
one of Mexico City’s most important monuments, threw the Cubans
out on Friday during an energy conference organized by the
U.S.-Cuba Trade Association.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide Inc., which is based
in White Plains, New York, and owns Sheraton hotels, said it
had been asked by the U.S. Treasury Department to tell the
Cubans to go, under the U.S. embargo on the communist-run
island.

Mexican officials are angry at what they see as U.S.
interference in an event on Mexican soil.

Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez warned on Tuesday the
hotel could face a fine of $475,000 if it had broken Mexican
law by applying another country’s laws here.

Jaramillo, who heads one of Mexico City’s 16 administrative
districts, said the hotel had carried out construction without
permission and has two bars that were not licensed.

Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide were not available
for comment on the allegations.

Protesters waving Cuban flags and burning the American flag
blocked the hotel’s entrance on Tuesday, slapped unofficial
closure stickers on doors and scuffled with security guards.