No hospitality for Cubans at Hilton hotels

The U.S. government is cracking down on enforcing the Cuban embargo, and American businesses overseas are paying the price, says Fortune's Eliza Barclay.

FORTUNE Magazine
by Eliza Barclay, Fortune Magazine

February 16 2007: 5:49 AM EST

(Fortune Magazine) -- When a delegation of 14 Cubans tried to stay at their usual hotel in Oslo for a travel fair in January, they found themselves bounced from the reservations roster.
It turns out the Scandic Edderkoppen Hotel had been acquired last spring by the Hilton chain, which is forbidden by the U.S. embargo from hosting Cuban guests - even in Norway. Norwegian activists called it discrimination and threatened suit; others called for a boycott of the entire 140-hotel Scandic chain.

Hilton acted preemptively without a directive from Washington, D.C. But the fear of a phone call and a fine from the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) is enough to keep businesses dealing with Cubans on vigilant watch.

That's because OFAC has been cracking down in line with the Bush administration's tightened policy against Cuba since 2003 - the relinquishing of power by the ailing Fidel Castro last year notwithstanding. Under the Trading With the Enemy Act, U.S. businesses and subsidiaries are prohibited from providing services to Cubans - a provision more restrictive than for other sanctioned countries, including Iran and North Korea. "Various measures under the Cuban sanctions have been strengthened under the Bush administration," says OFAC spokeswoman Molly Millerwise.

In December, OFAC fined Oliver Stone's production company, Ixtlan Corp., $6,322 for filming the documentary Comandante, about Fidel Castro, in Cuba. And OFAC now scrutinizes the rare licenses granted for travel to Cuba. Until 2003, Americans could skirt restrictions by touring with organized cultural or "religious" groups. "OFAC wants to send a message: Trade with Cuba is still prohibited," says Douglas Jacobson, a sanctions and export-control attorney with Strasburger & Price in Washington, D.C.

More:
http://archive.fortune.com/magazines/fortune/fortune_archive/2007/02/05/8399194/index.htm?postversion=2007021605

Judi Lynn

I remember that good - it was all over the news - even on the evening news for a few days - it worked itself out as the delegation was switched to another hotel who was not part of the Hilton chain - but not before Hilton got some damage from the flack, I think they lost some money from the government because of that gaffe.... At least it was a stupid thing to do - to deny a delegation of cubans to visit a Norwegian hotel - who have nothing to do with the silly embargo with Cuba...

Diclotican

Ruby the Liberal

Properly when Fidel Castro is dead and buried - and much of the reason for the embargo are not there anymore..

Diclotican

He was never the reason in the first place. "Communism" and the "Soviet Scare" were hyped up and Cuba drew the short stick as the epitome of evil in the 1960s. Today Communist China is the US's BFF (Best Friend Forever) yet Cuba rots in poverty for no reason other than their sugar crop.

I would visit and support their Caribbean economy the nano-second this ridiculous embargo is lifted. This has gone on way too long.

Ruby the Liberal

Communism, or for the matter social-democracy was a nightmare from the side of the americans in the 1950s and 1960s - even our own Labour party was questionable - and it is known in Norway that CIA tried to invite some high ranking officers to make a coup against a lawfully democratic elected government - if the Labour party was doing a left turn political speaking - they failed as no officer wanted to have anything with CIA to do - specially when it came to the prospect of doing a coup against a lawfully democratic government - when it first was known in governmental circles that CIA was plotting against them - it made (as rumors go) a hell of a stinks in the halls of government - and the then diplomatic attache from US to Norway had some problems explaining itself out of that pickle - but it was not known for a larger publicum to after the cold war was over, because our foreign office was hiding it from a public eye as best as they could do it - and our civil service is pretty good at hiding secrets if it is seen as important to the common good... And Norway needed US to protect itself from our big nabour on our border...

The irony is absolutely there - PRC who's is a communist state, with a autoritan communist party at the helm is the US best friend - but a small Caribbean nation who have not been any danger to the US for the last 100 years - and who have been treated as a playing ground for the rich and famous in the US from at least the start of the last century - that is a horrible danger to the US and have to be punished harshly - it is outright ridiculous how the US act against Cuba - a country who have no power to do US any danger - on the other hand PRC is indeed a nation who have resources and power to do US a lot of damage if they wanted to do it - just look about how PRC act in their own neighborhood - sooner or later PRC will have a shooting match on their hand - against countries the US have a defense pact with... The next big war would overlap the Middle east - and turn itself into a war where Japan, South-Korea, the Filliphines - Vietnam and a few other nations would be in danger of being catching the fire... And then US will be involved even if the US do not want to be involved in the pacific rim...

I think many in the south of Florida - and specially in Miami want to get back to the days when Cuba had overlords - and the people more or less defenseless against the overlords - and where the rich and famous could travel to Cuba to leisure as they see fit - as they did before Castro ended that gilded age in 1959 - I doubt somehow the cubans want to get back to that time - and would do anything to defend what they have managed to build up as best as they can - compare it to the rest of the more or less independent states in the Caribbean Cuba do not doing it so bad - all the time they do have all the instruments for a democracy - when Casto dies - and a younger, more pragmatic country emerge form it all... Even his brother have made some progress there as he is seen as more pragmatic minded about the country than Fidel ever was - Raul sound like a people who wanted to make sure Cuba can survive even after Castro dies - Somehow I think the two brothers have spoken a lot about the future for the Cuban people - and the need to be pragmatic when the old man dies ... I for one believe it to be rooted in revenge against Castro - who turned its back on the US when the US more or less told him to F** it back in 1960, when Castro visited US, and wanted a loan to do some improvements on Cuba.. It was later when the US told him to not call back - he turned his interest to the Soviet Union - who was more than happy to help Cuba with loans - and even gave him military toys to play with - who ended just short of a nuclear war in 1962... Thankfully US and USSR was cold headed enough to stop short of that failure - and according to the deal struck by Soviet and the US - Cuba was to be left alone and not to be attacked again... That deal is still intact - even that some neo-conservatives and arch conservatives wanted to just rescind that idea - and to do military coups against the cuban people.. I have talked to a few arch conservatives who have stated that the deal between US and USSR was no void after USSR was falling appear - and it was up to the US to finish off Castro Cuba

In the meantime Cuba have doing a lot to improve it standing with the rest of the world - specially with Europe, who now have tourist hotels dotted over many places in Cuba - and where Cuba earn a lot of hard cash both public ally and unofficially on the more "black marked" - and it looks like many who travel to cuba enjoy their stay pretty well - as many do travel back now and then - the aircrafts is pretty full when arriving Cuba - and full when departing Cuba too... The fact of the matter is that many european hotel chains is building hotels left and right and center - and in the US some of the biggest chains is screaming at the top of their lungs to get a piece of the actions - to build hotels and to earn some dollar in Cuba - as the europeans is doing a killing economical speaking in the meantime... The Embargo is wittering away - but the US is bound by law not to do business with Cuba anytime soon...

Diclotican

Cuban American vote, unfortunately. Chinese communists killed American soldiers in the Korean War. Vietnamese communists killed American soldiers in Viet Nam. Cuban communists killed none. Yet the first two are now trading partners, with China holding MFN status.

The text says they raised money from Red Bull.

http://www.sponsume.com/project/next-che-cuba-skate-revolution

No doubt it's worth every penny of the fine if it means more people will see the film!

Interesting short article accompanies the video.

Thanks for this find.