The Communication Workers Union, which represents the majority of workers at Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre, has called on the United States government to publicly apologise to the Caribbean.
This follows the inability of the hotel to obtain a licence from the US government to host the Caricom-Cuba summit at the St Ann's hotel. In a release, the union described this as an open embarrassment and demanded that the US government stopped what they called an "imperialist policy" which placed hardships on the people of Cuba and, by extension, the wider Caribbean Community.
"This move by the USA sends chilling signals that we in T&T and the Caribbean are considered as a State of the Union of the USA and by large suggests that we are not in control of our own economic, cultural, social and political destiny," the release stated.
The statement also called on the delegates of the Caricom-Cuba Summit to issue a statement denouncing the "inhumane and undemocratic" policy imposed on independent nations in the conduct of legitimate international and regional matters. It also called on the T&T Government to denounce the "intrusion in T&T's sovereign affairs" and demanded that it took full control of the country's resources.
The release questioned the hotel's decision: "How can the USA determine who should stay at the Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre which is owned by the Government of T&T, but managed by the American-based Hilton Worldwide? "How can the USA government determine that Hilton Trinidad and Conference Centre cannot be used by the leaders of Caricom to transact Caricom business through the deepening of ties with the Republic of Cuba and its President, Raul Castro?" it added. The release condemned the decision, stating that it impacted in a fundamental way on the economic viability of the hotel and, by extension, its employees.
