While US Embassy officials say the issue concerning the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre and the CARICOM -Cuba summit is being "blown out of proportion," they maintain that the Hilton's application on the issue reached US authorities a month after Government submitted the paperwork in October. A spokesman from the Embassy confirmed that yesterday following Government's stiff denial on Thursday that the application had been sent late by Government. An issue arose after Government was forced to shift the venue for Thursday's one day CARICOM-Cuba Summit from the US-managed Hilton to NAPA after the Hilton was refused an application to host the Cuban delegation by US authorities.
Cuban President Raul Castro was guest of honour at the summit along with CARICOM leaders. CARICOM has steadfastly supported Cuba's call for the US to drop its longstanding trade embargo against Cuba, a call which was reinforced at the summit. The embargo was strengthened in 1996, via the Helms Burton law which prohibits links with Cuba under any Castro regime. After the issue broke, the US Government, via the embassy's acting public affairs officer Alex McLaren, made it clear the US-managed Hilton was under US laws and regulations which required it to obtain a licence from the US Treasury Department to host the Cubans at the summit.
McLaren was subsequently quoted in some media that the Hilton's application reached the US authorities "late" in November. However, during the summit Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and Foreign Affairs Minister Suruj Rambachan both said this was erroneous. They said Government's application was sent to Hilton since October. Rambachan said the contract was signed with the Hilton on October 24. Persad-Bissessar questioned how October could have been too late. Rambachan said Hilton gave Government the undertaking that everything would have been fine. Rambachan said Government was advised late in the issue-on December 6-that the Hilton had not received permission from the US authorities to have the Cubans stay at the Hilton or have the summit at the Hilton.
Rambachan said the Government was in no way culpable or to be blamed for the situation. Persad-Bissessar, who said she did not want T&T to create any diplomatic faux pas with any country, said she respected the US' foreign policy as she hoped the US would respect T&T's. Yesterday the US Embassy formulated a reply to the CARICOM -Cuban calls at the summit for the embargo against Cuba to be dropped. Embassy officials maintained that the US got the application in November. "What happened between October when your Government sent the information to Hilton and November when it was received by the US Treasury department is a question for the Hilton and the Treasury Department-but the issue is being blown out of proportion," they added. Hilton management was mum yesterday referring all queries to the US authorities.