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No room at the Hilton: Cubans find US
trade ban stretches to Oslo
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Norwegian unions protest global
effect of embargo
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Booking would have caused chaos
says hotel
Duncan Campbell
Monday February 5, 2007
The Guardian
AN
Oslo hotel, owned by the US Hilton chain, refused a
booking by a Cuban trade delegation to the city's
travel fair last month because of the US embargo of
the communist Caribbean island.
The
Hilton group is also banning Cuban delegations from
all of its hotels around the world as are other
American hotel companies, a Hilton spokeswoman in
London told the Guardian yesterday.
"We
are a US company," said Linda Bain, vice-president
for communications at the group. "The dilemma we
face is that [if we took a booking from a Cuban
delegation] we would be subject to fines or prison
and if anyone [from the company] tried to enter the
US, they would be arrested." She said they were now
seeking clarification of their position from the US
government.
Norwegian trade unions and anti-racist organisations
complained about the Scandic hotel's actions and are
now moving union conferences elsewhere until the
policy is changed.
"It
is not allowed by law in Norway to discriminate on
grounds of gender, religion or nationality," said
the deputy leader of the Norwegian Union of
Municipal and General Employees, Anne Grethe
Skaardal. "It is unacceptable for the US to dictate
to the whole world."
The
hotel ban is just one of the latest of many similar
actions prompted by the US embargo of Cuba.
Last
month freelance journalist Tom Fawthrop, who has
written for the Guardian and the Economist,
was puzzled that he had not been paid for an article
in the Sydney Morning Herald that he had
written about the Cuban health service. On enquiring
what had happened, he received this message from
Citibank Global: "Due to US sanctions, your payment
was stopped for the following reason - reference to
Cuban doctors. The Office of Foreign Asset Controls
is requesting clarification. Please advise details
of Cuban doctors and also purpose of this
transaction."
Last
year, Ann Louise Bardach, the American journalist
and author who wrote the book Cuba Confidential, was
also puzzled that she had not received payment for
consultancy work on the Channel Four Film, 638 Ways
to Kill Castro. She took the matter up with the
production company in London and it transpired that
the payment had indeed been sent but had been held
up in the US because the word "Cuba" appeared in
reference to the payment.
When
the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, based in north London,
needed to buy a new office computer they approached
Dell, whose headquarters are in Texas. The order was
placed and accepted but a few days later they were
contacted by Dell seeking information about the
destination of the computer. They explained that it
was for use in London offices. Dell then wanted to
know about the organisation's funding and the names
of their executive members. The campaign decided to
take their custom elsewhere.
"The
fact that the Cuba Solidarity Campaign, a UK based
NGO, are restricted from buying a Dell computer for
use in our north London offices, illustrates the far
reaching effects of a blockade that is increasingly
imposing US bigotry and absurdity onto the lives of
UK citizens," said Rob Miller of Cuba Solidarity.
The
hotel ban has also operated in different parts of
the world. Last year, the Mexican government fined
the Sheraton Maria Isabel hotel in Mexico City
around £60,000 for expelling 16 Cuban guests.
Last
night the Labour MP Colin Burgon contacted the
foreign secretary, Margaret Beckett, to ask her to
issue a "robust rebuttal" to the hotel ban.
The
Labour MP Ian Gibson, the chairman of the group,
described the ban as "small-minded". A vote on the
embargo at the UN last year showed that 183
countries oppose it and four (the US, Israel, Palau
and the Marshall Islands) support it. The embargo,
which is supported by the Bush administration, is
opposed by opposition groups in Cuba which describe
it as counter-productive. A growing number of US
politicians also seek to have the embargo lifted.
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