Mexico and US Spar After Unlawful Eviction of Cubans

The US-owned Sheraton Hotel in Mexico City, from where a group of Cuban officials meeting with US Oil experts were unlawfully evicted due to pressure from the US Treasury Department. Below are excerpts of the BBC Story:

The authorities in Mexico say a US-owned hotel in Mexico City may have broken the law by expelling a group of Cuban officials.

The delegation was ordered out of the Hotel Maria Isabel Sheraton last week at the behest of Washington, because of the US embargo against Cuba.

Foreign Minister Luis Ernesto Derbez said the US law could not be applied in a third country.

Mr Derbez - who a day earlier announced an investigation into the incident - also said the hotel may have broken local laws which ban discrimination. He said the Sheraton chain could be fined up to $500,000.

The office of Mexican President Vicente Fox said on Tuesday that the authorities were looking into the eviction, pledging to "vigorously apply the law" if any wrongdoing was found.