The meeting at the Sheraton in Mexico was organized by the U.S.-Cuba Trade Association. It included representatives of ExxonMobil, Valero Energy Corporation, and Caterpillar, to discuss prospects for investing in offshore drilling in Cuba’s territorial waters. The U.S. Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control told Starwood Hotels, which owns the Sheraton, that it was violating the Trading with the Enemy Act and the Cuban Democracy Act of 1992 by allowing the meeting to take place on its premises. These laws prohibit U.S. companies and their subsidiaries from providing any facilities or other services to Cuban individuals or companies.

In imposing the fine, the Foreign Ministry said the hotel breached Mexico’s Trade Protection and Investment Law, which forbids the application of the laws of a third country in Mexico. “The Foreign Ministry also warned that if the hotel again applies such extraterritorial laws, a fine will be imposed of twice the amount of the present one,” reported the Cuban daily Granma.  
 
 
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