MEXICANS REACT NEGATIVELY TO EXPULSION OF CUBAN

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MEXICO 000765

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PREL MX CU
SUBJECT: MEXICANS REACT NEGATIVELY TO EXPULSION OF CUBAN
DELEGATION FROM SHERATON HOTEL



1. (SBU) Summary. On February 3 the Sheraton Maria Isabel
Hotel in Mexico City (next door to the U.S. Embassy) expelled
a 16-member Cuban delegation that was participating in an
energy conference with the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association. The
expulsion came after OFAC advised the Sheraton's parent
corporation in the U.S. that hosting the Cubans would violate
the Cuban Assets Control Regulations administered by OFAC.
The expulsion of the Cubans quickly hit the press and has not
dropped off the front pages since. The reaction of the
Mexican media, politicians, and public has been harshly and
almost universally negative. GOM ministers have tried to
outdo each other in condemning the incident and promising
retribution (apparently in the form of prosecution for
violation of Mexico's anti-discrimination and consumer
protection laws). City inspectors descended on the hotel,
came away with a list of code violations (e.g. inadequate
safety precautions at the pool) and promised to close the
hotel. Foreign Secretary Derbez managed to damage himself
over the issue by first suggesting it was a matter between
private parties. He has been crucified by the press for his
"weak" response to the extraterritorial application of U.S.
law. End Summary.

Meddling and Interference
--------------


2. (SBU) Since the incident broke in the press, the words
"intromision" and "injerencia" (meddling, intrusion,
interference) have been much in vogue. Virtually everyone
has described this as an application of the Helms-Burton law
(which it is not),and we have not heard from anyone who
likes it. Derbez, who was traveling in Europe when the story
broke, seriously misjudged the tenor of public opinion, first
saying it was a matter between private parties. Realizing
his mistake, he tacked back to saying the Sheraton should
face prosecution under Mexico's anti-discrimination and
consumer protection laws. But by then other GOM officials,
such as Secretary of Government Abascal, had gotten in ahead
of him, promising the full weight of the law would descend on
the Sheraton.


3. (U) The Party of the Democratic Revolution
(PRD)-controlled city government (actually the "delegacion"
or borough in which the hotel is located) decided direct
action was needed and sent in a team of health and building
code inspectors. Predictably, they found some violations of
health, safety, and zoning laws and threatened the hotel with
closure. By week's end it appeared they had overplayed their
hand as both Derbez and Tourism Secretary Elizondo publicly
regretted the threats to close the hotel and some
commentators were asking about the fate of the 700 employees
of the Sheraton. Some locals have also asked why city
inspectors are so active when it comes to avenging Cubans and
so lax regarding all the other obvious violations of city
ordinances on view in Mexico City. The Sheraton has sought a
federal court injunction, and a senior city official said the
city would of course abide by any judicial ruling. The court
is expected to rule on the injunction request by February 20.

Anger and Bafflement
--------------


4. (SBU) Needless to say, the Institutional Revolutionary
Party (PRI) as well as the PRD, were quick to condemn the
Sheraton and the U.S. PRI presidential candidate Roberto
Madrazo suggested the U.S. ability to enforce its laws in
Mexico revealed the weakness of Fox's foreign policy. PRD
candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador called the expulsion
"shameful." Fox's National Action Party (PAN),which is not
traditionally pro-Cuban, has also been critical. Privately,
some PAN politicians have expressed to us their bewilderment
and have suggested that the U.S. fell into a Cuban trap
designed to embarrass the U.S., Fox, and the PAN's
presidential candidate, Felipe Calderon.


5. (U) Calderon for his part took a clever line, telling a
tourism conference in Cancun that the PRD's misuse of the
city ordinances to punish the Sheraton was typical of the
sort of authoritarian PRD government Mexico could expect if
Lopez Obrador won the presidency ("authoritarian" is a label
Lopez Obrador's critics have hung on him in the past).
Madrazo has also come out against the idea of closing the
hotel, asking why the PRD city government is so efficient in
finding code violations and so inept in fighting crime. By
February 9, the scene had shifted to congress, which passed a
resolution calling on the GOM to send a diplomatic note to
the USG protesting the extra-territorial application of U.S.
law. Derbez insisted that was not going to happen.


MEXICO 00000765 002 OF 002


The Other Side of the Story
--------------


5. (U) We have explained to our contacts that what happened
here was not interference in Mexico's internal affairs but
rather the U.S. exercising its legitimate authority to
regulate the operations of a U.S. corporation. Moreover, we
have suggested that similar outrage at the Cuban regime's
treatment of its own people would be refreshing. We have
pointed to other laws, such as those designed to combat sex
tourism, that subject U.S. citizens to prosecution in the
U.S. for crimes committed abroad. Frankly, most of our
interlocutors seem unpersuaded -- unable to get beyond what
they see as the U.S. reaching into Mexico to carry out a
policy that has never been popular here -- but in any case
this story may die down if and when it is determined that
closing one of Mexico City's best known and most prestigious
hotels (and throwing 700 Mexicans out of work) is probably
not a productive step.


Visit Mexico City's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/wha/mexicocity

KELLY