CONFLICT OF INTEREST/CUBA/ETHICS/FOREIGN POLICY/TRUMP AS PRESIDENT/TRUMP BUSINESS: “The proposed changes in US-Cuba relations that President Donald Trump will unveil Friday in Miami could adversely impact hotel brands that directly compete with Trump’s business empire, making it more difficult for them expand their foothold in Cuba.
Trump’s changes in Cuba policy include prohibiting ‘financial transactions, including transactions incidental to travel with GAESA and its affiliates, subsidiaries, and successors,’ according to documents reviewed by CNN. Gaviota, the tourism arm of the government-run GAESA, currently operates the Four Points by Sheraton Havana, a hotel that, when it opened, was the first US hotel to open in Cuba in nearly 60 years.
GAESA, the company directly targeted by Trump’s plan, controls large swathes of the Cuban economy and is run by Gen. Luis Alberto Rodríguez López-Callejas, Raul Castro’s son-in-law.
Even Americans traveling legally to Cuba, according to the new Trump policy, would not be able to stay in any hotel connected to the Cuban military, including the Four Points by Sheraton in Havana.
The Trump proposal would include exemptions to this policy, but none appear to include hotels like the Sheraton or future projects.”
-Dan Merica, Patrick Oppmann, and Jim Acosta, “Changes in Cuba policy could adversely impact Trump’s hotel competitors,” CNN Politics, CNN.com, June 16, 2017 10:28am