administration's seizure of the Cubans' deposit, stashing it away in the U.S. Treasury. Shabby, tacky, anal beyond description!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Tuesday, March 21, 2006
Bush Administration Had Cuban Officials Evicted From Mexico City Hotel
I recently returned from Mexico City where, while seated in a festive cantina watching the World Baseball Classic, I was treated to a chorus of boos and cries of “estupido” and “malo” as a newsbreak featuring video of George W. Bush flashed on the television. It was hardly a big surprise. Pick a saloon or coffee shop outside of Utah or a handful of other scarlet-red American states and you’re likely to get the same reaction to Bush’s face on a TV screen.
What did surprise me was what I heard from one of my new friends in Mexico when I asked if the reaction was based mainly on the Iraq war, Bush’s general arrogance in dealing with other nations or something specific with Mexico.
In addition to the Mexican people being acutely aware that bands of armed militiamen are roaming U.S. states bordering their country, I was informed of a shocking event that took place last month in Mexico City that, my research shows, flew very much under the radar of the big mainstream media and the blogging world.
It seems that in early February, the U.S. Department of Treasury ordered an American-owned hotel in Mexico’s capital city to evict 16 Cuban officials holding meetings on the property because of the 45-year-old American embargo on providing goods and services to the people of Cuba. Bush Administration officials said that the hotel would have been in violation of the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba had it allowed the Cubans to remain, while Mexican officials said the U.S. infringed on their sovereignty and violated Mexican law.
The move enraged Mexican citizens, which resulted in loud protests in front of the Sheraton Maria Isabel hotel, which is owned by Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide.
An official with the Treasury Department confirmed that the Bush administration did indeed pressure the hotel to comply with the U.S. embargo against business with Cuba or Cubans. The meeting was moved to a Mexican-owned hotel the following day after the Cuban eviction on February 3.
On March 1, Mexico City officials, upset with the U.S. interference, ordered the closing of the hotel which is, ironically enough, located directly across from the landmark, Angel of Independence monument at one of the city's most prominent intersections. While the official reason for closing the Sheraton was unclear, the official who signed the closing notice, Virginia Jaramillo, the chief of the city's Cuauhtémoc district, had promised to move against the hotel after the Cuban delegation was asked to leave four weeks before.
(snip/...)
http://bobgeiger.blogspot.com/2006/03/bush-administration-had-cuban.html