AUTHORITIES in the Cuauhtémoc district of Mexico City decided to close the María Isabel Sheraton Hotel given that an administrative proceedure applied to the company after it evicted 16 Cuban guests who were meeting with U.S. businessmen accredited only one of 16 irregularities detected in a February 8 verification visit.

Alonso Rojas Rodríguez, the district’s general juridical and government director, explained that the legal protection granted to the hotel by a judge only provides a guarantee to the Sheraton that the administrative procedure will be fully applied, but does not prevent a suspension of activity, which is why the closure notices were placed.

Moreover, the Cuauhtémoc delegation set a fine of about $15,000, for the moment, due to irregularities that the hotel has failed to rectify.

The latter include the lack of an internal civilian protection plan; building on land 3,000 meters beyond its boundaries; failing to present operating licenses for two bars; failing to have a sign in Braille, and failure to have anti-slip material on 10% of its stairways.