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Cuba confirms arms bound for North Korea on ship seized in Panama

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Cuba isn't "isolated"..... Cuba is a strategic piece of land. See the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Cuba is like:"mi casa su casa" to any nation that wishes to overthrow the US - that or decimate us.

As JFK said and I paraphrase, that any missile attack from Cuba would be considered an attack from Soviet Russia and bring "a full retaliatory response" from the United States against Russia itself.

So insert any other nation into the 'Soviet Russia' part and there is the answer. Cuba is isolated and without many friends. Or at least friends that can do anything for them.
 
The best way to change Cuba is to keep them isolated. Invading Cuba now would only give China an excuse to invade Taiwan. What we need to do in the USA is compel the Canadians and other European trade partners to curtail tourism to Cuba. Today Cuba ranks as one of the number one destinations for sex tourism in the world, most of the tourists being men seeking to have sex with children. So much for Castro's noble revolution, now he is nothing more than a pimp.

Been isolating those pesky Cubans for 60 years give or take an assassination attempt or two. How is that working out?

I thought Thailand was the Number 1 sex tourism spot.

Best way is to stop the idiotic one man band attempt to 'isolate' Cuba and normalize relations with them.
 
We should invade and overthrow Cuba... Cuba has absolute ZERO purpose other than to honor our enemies - or at least communist nations or pseudo-communist/capitalists that view the United States as an enemy.

The US could take Cuba easily - not only that but Russia won't do anything about it nor will China. Of course the UN will disagree but who gives a **** what the UN says anyways - no one has ever respected the UN in the first place.

The simple fact Cuba has such loyalty to the bigger communist/fascist/authoritarian/totalitarian nations around Geo concerns me.

Cuba could potentially be a main tourist attraction for US citizens like it was before 1959 when Castro and Guevara couped the joint.

More likely we would get a flood of immigrants, spend millions repairing their infrastructure, and our military would become permanent babysitters.
 
Been isolating those pesky Cubans for 60 years give or take an assassination attempt or two. How is that working out?

Seems to be working just fine. Cuba has their independence and I suppose they are enjoying it the way they like. We had that little incident with the missiles which was resolved. And eventually even the Soviets grew tired of Castro and stopped buying his sugar.

So all in all, I suppose Cuba is one of the best examples of how Communism doesn't work. At least in a country with no oil, few resources and few people with vision or skills. I mean this Castro government isn't exactly bright like the Vietnamese government is are they? Which speaks to a good point in the fact that Vietnam was at least willing to play ball in order to improve not only their economy but also their relations with the west. Castro on the other hand reminds me of Yassar Arrafat--- willing to keep things as screwed up as he can in some sick way to maintain his position of power. Why would Castro ever want to make things better for Cubans, so he could be proved wrong?

I thought Thailand was the Number 1 sex tourism spot.


I said one of the number one sex tourism spots which didn't make sense (there can only be one number one), I misspoke and meant to say one of the top sex tourism locations. In any event, not a thing to be proud of for a nation that claimed to do more to educate and provide opportunity to its citizens than the previous government in Cuba.

Best way is to stop the idiotic one man band attempt to 'isolate' Cuba and normalize relations with them.

Why reward Castro when there isn't anything in it for us? If the Castro brothers step down then that would be a first step. But no reason to normalize with Castro any more than we would normalize with North Korea or Iran. The Cuban government is not a nation that has that shown any indication that it is willing to reform. And being that they are not a nation like China or Russia, they aren't holding many cards. To quote Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, "a man has got to know his limitations".
 
Seems to be working just fine. Cuba has their independence and I suppose they are enjoying it the way they like. We had that little incident with the missiles which was resolved. And eventually even the Soviets grew tired of Castro and stopped buying his sugar. So all in all, I suppose Cuba is one of the best examples of how Communism doesn't work. At least in a country with no oil, few resources and few people with vision or skills. I mean this Castro government isn't exactly bright like the Vietnamese government is are they? Which speaks to a good point in the fact that Vietnam was at least willing to play ball in order to improve not only their economy but also their relations with the west. Castro on the other hand reminds me of Yassar Arrafat--- willing to keep things as screwed up as he can in some sick way to maintain his position of power. Why would Castro ever want to make things better for Cubans, so he could be proved wrong? I said one of the number one sex tourism spots which didn't make sense (there can only be one number one), I misspoke and meant to say one of the top sex tourism locations. In any event, not a thing to be proud of for a nation that claimed to do more to educate and provide opportunity to its citizens than the previous government in Cuba. Why reward Castro when there isn't anything in it for us? If the Castro brothers step down then that would be a first step. But no reason to normalize with Castro any more than we would normalize with North Korea or Iran. The Cuban government is not a nation that has that shown any indication that it is willing to reform. And being that they are not a nation like China or Russia, they aren't holding many cards. To quote Clint Eastwood in Dirty Harry, "a man has got to know his limitations".

Odd look on it. Cuba has not collapsed and many other countries do trade with the Castro country. Russia didn't grow tired of Cuban sugar but rather was in an economic tailspin and couldn't afford sugar. Communism is working in Cuba, it is more a case of a superpower next door is smothering it. If the Vietnamese were next door I doubt they would flourish... and it is as much we are playing ball with them as a counter balance to the Chinese as the Vietnamese playing with us.

I've read some on the poverty stricken regions in the Caribbean, Central and South America where desperate people engage in sex for food/money/ a night out. (Do note many of these nations are hailed as 'democratic' ) Cuba is not alone in prostitution, and has had several crack downs and laws passed to limit prostitution... I'd say Cuba is no worse than many other countries in the region.

Seeing how we tried to kill Fidel a few times in the past, I can see where there might be a grudge against just smiling and forgiving the Gringos. (You seem to forget that part) It does us no good to continue to boycott Cuba, so why continue punishing THE PEOPLE because we don't like two old aging men?
 
Odd look on it. Cuba has not collapsed and many other countries do trade with the Castro country. Russia didn't grow tired of Cuban sugar but rather was in an economic tailspin and couldn't afford sugar. Communism is working in Cuba, it is more a case of a superpower next door is smothering it. If the Vietnamese were next door I doubt they would flourish... and it is as much we are playing ball with them as a counter balance to the Chinese as the Vietnamese playing with us.

I've read some on the poverty stricken regions in the Caribbean, Central and South America where desperate people engage in sex for food/money/ a night out. (Do note many of these nations are hailed as 'democratic' ) Cuba is not alone in prostitution, and has had several crack downs and laws passed to limit prostitution... I'd say Cuba is no worse than many other countries in the region.

Seeing how we tried to kill Fidel a few times in the past, I can see where there might be a grudge against just smiling and forgiving the Gringos. (You seem to forget that part) It does us no good to continue to boycott Cuba, so why continue punishing THE PEOPLE because we don't like two old aging men?


Were you in Cuba during and after the revolution? Do you know anyone who was imprisoned by the Castro regime? Have you been to Cuba recently and visited--- and not just the parts of Cuba they let the tourist go to?

I don't care about what you've "read about poverty stricken regions in the Caribbean" tell us something that you actually know. Something that you have actually witnessed?
 
Were you in Cuba during and after the revolution? Do you know anyone who was imprisoned by the Castro regime? Have you been to Cuba recently and visited--- and not just the parts of Cuba they let the tourist go to? I don't care about what you've "read about poverty stricken regions in the Caribbean" tell us something that you actually know. Something that you have actually witnessed?

Actually I served with two sons of refugees, nice enough guys, but again Cuba is not the lone ranger in brutal regimes south of Miami. Some we supported as 'freedom fighters' and some we attacked as commie bastards.

I have been to Jamaica where prostitution is alive and well. Been to Costa Rica where the poor folks are quite open in prostitution been to Mexico where the poorer folks hang out outside major hotels and the maids make extra money turning tricks.

fact is NOTHING you blame Cuba's leadership for is much different than most of the region. Course you don't want to discuss Cuba back when it was friendly to us- and the Mob... :peace
 
It is very typically that dictator states join together - Iran, North Korea, Cuba and partly Russia, even if they have very opposite ideological fundament. The only common platform is the hatred against the USA and their Western allies. A dictatorship state defines "freedom" as the dictator's right to do whatever he wants with "his" citizens, and "oppression" is defined as external interference on the dictator in this respect. I really hope that the demonstrators in Venezuela will succeed in throwing away the semi-dictatorship down there, http://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-26335287
 
N Korean ship seized with Cuban weapons 'free to leave' Panama
BBC News - N Korean ship seized with Cuban weapons 'free to leave' Panama

BBC News Latin America & Caribbean
8 February 2014

_72853298_72853297.jpg

Soviet-era fighter jet engines were found in the containers

The Panama Canal Authority says a North Korean ship seized seven months ago with undeclared Cuban weapons on board is free to go, after Pyongyang paid a fine of nearly $700,000 (£425,000).

The ship was carrying 25 containers, with Soviet-era weapons and fighter jets hidden under sacks of sugar.

Three crew members, including the captain, will remain in Panama to face weapons trafficking charges.

United Nation sanctions ban any country from providing arms to North Korea.

The Canal Authority initially imposed a fine of nearly $1m - eventually reduced to $693,000 - for breach of navigation regulations.
It says the undeclared cargo endangered Panama's internal security

"Having received the fine and in strict accordance with its regulations the Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has authorised the departure of the ship," it said in a statement.

Soviet jets

On 30 January, the canal administrators ordered the release, without charge, of 32 of the 35 crew members of the Chong Chon Gang.

The captain, the first officer and the political officer face 12-year sentences for arms smuggling.

The container ship was stopped near Manzanillo, on the Atlantic side of the canal, on 15 July under suspicion that it was carrying drugs.

It had disappeared from satellite tracking for a few days as it approached the Cuban capital, Havana, having departed from Russia's eastern coast three months earlier.

On searching the vessel, officials found military hardware including two Soviet-era MiG-21 fighter aircraft, air defence systems, missiles and command and control vehicles.

Cuban authorities said that the ship was carrying 240 tonnes of "obsolete" defensive weapons.

The North Korean government had called on Panama to release the vessel.

"This cargo is nothing but ageing weapons which are to be sent back to Cuba after overhauling them according to a legitimate contract," the North's foreign ministry was quoted as saying by the state-run Central News Agency.

UN experts sent to Panama to investigate published a preliminary report saying that sanctions against North Korea over its nuclear programme had been violated.

Under UN sanctions, North Korea is banned from weapons exports and the import of all but small arms.

_68779745_panama_cargo_ap.jpg
For sure the Castroit regime is going to remain mum after getting caught red handed shipping arms to the North Korean tyrannical regime in direct violation of UN sanctions. Why should they talk or cooperate with investigators? All they would do is stay quiet, make believe nothing happened, and chances are that sooner or later, the entire scandal will go away.
 
U.N.: Cuba weapons shipment to North Korea violated arms embargo
U.N.: Cuba weapons shipment to North Korea violated arms embargo - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM


1vgFcR.St.56.JPG
A shipment of Cuban weapons to North Korea last summer violated a U.N. arms embargo on the Asian nation and showed a “comprehensive planned strategy to conceal” the cargo, a team of U.N. sanctions investigators have reportedly concluded.
Japan’s Kyodo News International news agency reported that the secret report submitted by the investigators to the U.N. Security Council states that the Cuban shipment constituted “sanctions violations.”

Panama authorities discovered the weapons, including anti-aircraft missile radar systems and engines for MiG warplanes, hidden under 10,000 tons of Cuban sugar when the seized the Chong Chon Gang freighter on its way to North Korea.

North Korea, officially named the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK), used a string of companies for the shipment, and the freighter turned off its locator beacon while it sailed in Caribbean waters, according to the report.

“The employment of so many role-players in support of the trip suggests a network of entities centrally managed working together to deflect scrutiny in order to evade sanctions by minimizing the DPRK's visibility in transactions,” the U.N. investigators wrote.
This is a good reason to keep the Castroit tyrannical regime in the list of nations who sponsor terrorism.

The Panama Government should inspect any North Korea ship traversing through the Panama Canal. This would put an end to the trafficking of drugs and military equipment by North Korea ships that use the Panama Canal.
 
Expert: UN unlikely to sanction Cuba for North Korea weaponshttp://www.miamiherald.com/2014/02/21/3951729/expert-un-unlikely-to-sanction.html

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM
Posted on o2/21/2014

Cuba almost certainly will not be sanctioned for violating the United Nations weapons embargo on North Korea, but individuals or enterprises from the island or the Asian country might be designated for punishment, analysts say.
The U.N. Security Council committee in charge of enforcing the embargo against Pyongyang is to meet Monday to start considering any punishments for Havana’s shipment of 240 tons of weapons to North Korea, seized by Panama authorities in July.

A panel of U.N. experts reported last week that the weapons, including anti-aircraft missile systems and engines for MiG warplanes, found hidden under 10,000 tons of sugar in the freighter Chong Chon Gang indeed violated the U.N. embargo.
A study underway of violators of the North Korean embargo over several years found that no government was punished, said Hugh Griffiths, a global arms trafficking expert with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden.

“The pattern has really been to sanction individuals and entities,” Griffiths said, adding that the SIPRI study has been reviewing the punishments put in place by the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Japan and Australia.
“I doubt very much that Cuba would be put under sanctions, based on previous violations,” Griffiths said by phone from Sweden.

The six-page list of entities sanctioned by the U.N. committee in charge of enforcing the arms embargo lists no countries. The embargo was slapped on North Korea under U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 for its nuclear weapons program.

The committee, officially named the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee, has three options for handling the Cuba case, according to experts on U.N. procedures.

It could do nothing at all, and Cuba has lots of allies in the United Nations that would prefer that. Havana escaped sanctions after a panel of U.N. aviation exports faulted its killing of four South Florida pilots over international waters in 1996.
Don’t be surprised that the UN will end up doing basically nothing to punish the Castroit dictatorship for selling military weapons to North Korea's tyrannical dictatorship.

Panama should sanction the Castroit regime for this blatant attempt to circumvent international sanctions against the brutal tyrannical regime of N. Korea. It could denied passage to suspect ships going to, or coming from the island of Dr. Castro, or by a thorough stem to stern search of any suspicious ship with the island on its itinerary.
 
Must Read: U.N. Releases Report on Cuba-North Korea Illegal Weapons Trafficking
Capitol Hill Cubans: Must Read: U.N. Releases Report on Cuba-North Korea Illegal Weapons Trafficking

at 10:48 AM Tuesday, March 11, 2014

The U.N.'s Panel of Experts ("Panel") has released its official report on North Korea's illegal trafficking of weapons, in conjunction with Cuba's Castro regime.

In July 2013, a North Korean flagged vessel, Chong Chon Gang, was intercepted carrying weaponry from Cuba hidden under 200,000 bags of sugar.

According to the report, such weapons trafficking remains "one of [North Korea's] most profitable revenue sources."

The report also documents North Korea's efforts to sell weaponry to Iran, Somalia, Eritrea, Myanmar and other countries of concern.

In the case of Cuba, it's the first time a nation in the Western Hemisphere is found in blatant violation of U.N. sanctions.

Moreover, the report notes similar Cuba trafficking patterns by other North Korean ships in the recent past.

Here are some notable excerpts from the report:

- The Panel concluded in its incident report submitted to the Committee that both the shipment itself and the transaction between Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were sanctions violations.

- The Panel found that the hidden cargo amounted to six trailers associated with surface-to-air missile systems and 25 shipping containers loaded with two disassembled MiG-21 aircraft, 15 engines for MiG-21 aircraft, components for surface-to-air missile systems, ammunition and miscellaneous arms-related materiel. This constituted the largest amount of arms and related materiel interdicted to or from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea since the adoption of resolution 1718 (2006).

- No records show the ship stopping at any countries other than Cuba between exiting the Panama Canal on 1 June and its return passage on 11 July.

- On 20 June, the ship docked in the port of Mariel, where it took onboard the arms and related materiel.

- Cuba argued that “maintenance”, as set out in paragraph 8 (c) of resolution 1718, was distinct from “repair”, which Cuba claimed was the basis of its contract with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea... The Panel is unconvinced by Cuba’s rationale to distinguish “maintenance” and “repair.”

- The transportation of undeclared weapons and explosives in this manner posed a significant danger to all persons and facilities in proximity to the ship and should be a cause of concern among shippers, port authorities, the international maritime community and insurers.

- Evidence found on the ship (see annexes XX and XXI) pointed to involvement of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea embassy staff in Cuba. Contact phone numbers and records found in the captain’s notes led the Panel to conclude that embassy officials in Havana were engaged in making arrangements for the shipment of the consignment of arms and related materiel, including the payment methods.

- In its consultations with the Panel, Cuba confirmed the parties involved in the sugar and said that the arms shipment was part of a governmental agreement. It declined,however, to give the Panel copies of these agreements, citing confidentiality clauses in the contracts.

- The incident involving the Chong Chon Gang revealed a comprehensive, planned strategy to conceal the existence and nature of the cargo.

- All identification markings and insignia of the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force had been removed from both MiG-21 aircraft; the Panel observed signs of overspray and scratch marks in places dedicated to original insignia.

- While the age of the items found in the shipment varied greatly, most appeared to have been well maintained. Records accompanying a great deal of the equipment indicated or certified the equipment functioned in accordance with specification or had been calibrated just prior to packing.

- It is the Panel’s view that examining individually the items and their handling suggest that some, if not all, of the consignment was not expected to be returned to Cuba.

- [The Panel] notes that the voyage of another Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-flagged and -owned vessel to Cuba presents a very similar pattern to the recent voyage of the Chong Chon Gang.
- On April 2012, the general cargo vessel O Un Chong Nyon Ho (IMO 8330815) operated by OMM,11 sailed directly from Nampo to Cuba and back without any further calls in the region. After having stopped in Havana and Puerto Padre, the O Un Chong Nyon Ho drifted for several weeks off northern Cuba before returning for three weeks to Havana. Its Automatic Identification System was switched off (in violation of IMO requirements) during these three weeks, however, effectively preventing determination of further ports’ calls,as in the case of the Chong Chon Gang.


rck.jpeg

Raul Castro greeting General Kim Kyok-sik in Havana in July 2013
The U.N. Security Council detail report has concluded that the Castroit regime concealed tons of armaments under sacks of sugar on the North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang, and that all the weapons were in full working order, in violation of the sanctions.
 
North Korea's Army Chief General Kim Kyok-sik, involve in the North Korean ship weapons smuggling, was purged from his post and killed by the North Korea tyrant Kim Jong Un.
 
UN Cuba would not ID those responsible for North Korea arms shipment
UN: Cuba would not ID those responsible for North Korea arms shipment - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

Cuba’s government refused to identify the people or entities involved in a weapons shipment to North Korea last year that violated a U.N. arms embargo, and might have violated the embargo twice more in 2012, according to a U.N. report made public Tuesday.

Some of the weapons and equipment that Cuba described as “obsolete” had been calibrated just before they were put aboard the freighter Chong Chon Gang, the document added, and Cuban insignias on two MiG21 warplanes were painted over.

The report also declared that the shipment intercepted in Panama violated the U.N. embargo on the Asian nation, and that despite Havana’s denials there were indications Cuba intended to turn over the weapons to the Pyongyang government.

Cuba’s 240-ton shipment was “the largest amount of arms and related materiel” interdicted going to or from North Korea since the Asian nation was hit with an arms embargo in 2006 because of its nuclear weapons program, the document added.

The public part of the 127-page report makes no recommendations on sanctions for Cuban or North Korean entities involved in the violations. But it mentions a secret annex submitted to the U.N. Security Council (UNSC) committee in charge of banking and travel sanctions on violators.
The U.S. State Department said it will “pursue appropriate action” based on the report but added, “We do not view this as a bilateral issue between the United States and Cuba. This is about a potential violation of U.N. Security Council sanctions on North Korea.”

Anti-Castro activist Mauricio Claver Carone urged the Obama administration to adopt “tangible repercussions that would make it unequivocally clear to the Castro regime that such behavior isn't inconsequential. Otherwise, it will continue to feel emboldened.”

Cuba declared in July that it sent the weapons to North Korea to be repaired and returned. It later argued to U.N. investigators who visited Havana that they did not violate the U.N. ban on the “supply, sale or transfer” of weapons to Pyongyang because Cuba retained ownership and the embargo covers “maintenance” but not “repairs.”

Those arguments were rejected in the document Tuesday, the annual report by the panel of U.N. experts that investigates all violations of the North Korea sanctions. It was submitted last month to the UNSC committee that enforces the embargo, and parts of it had leaked to the news media.

“The Panel is unconvinced by Cuba’s rationale to distinguish ‘maintenance’ and ‘repair,’” the report said, adding flatly that the shipment “violated the sanctions.”

Although Cuba told the U.N. investigators that the state-run Cubazucar had shipped the 200,018 sacks of sugar that covered and hid the weapons on the Chong Chon Gang, it refused to identify the Cubans involved in the weapons shipment and contract with Pyongyang.
The report said the weapons were loaded aboard the freighter at the port of Mariel west of Havana that’s being expanded by a consortium of Almacenes Universal S.A., run by the Cuban military and Brazilian enterprises.

Packed in 25 metal shipping containers and six trailers were two anti-aircraft missile systems, two MiG-21UM jet trainers, 15 engines and afterburners for the MiG21s, artillery shells and other munitions and materiel – most of it from the Soviet era.

While Cuba claims the weaponry was to be returned to the island, the report said it was the “panel’s view that examining individually the items and their (packaging) … suggest that some, if not all, of the consignment was not expected to be returned to Cuba.”

And although Cuba claims the weapons were “obsolete,” the report added, “records accompanying a great deal of the equipment indicated or certified the equipment functioned in accordance with specification or had been calibrated just prior to packing. Further, some of the equipment was unused or still in its original packaging.”

What’s more, the report said, Cuba had confirmed that North Korean military officers visited the island in 2012 to assess the weapons that were shipped in 2013. If the visit was “to provide services or assistance … they would also have been a violation.”

The report added that another North Korean freighter docked in April 2012 at some of the same Cuban ports as the Chong Chon Gang. Havana claimed it made only one weapons shipment last summer, but the experts could not confirm that claim.

The report also detailed the efforts to hide the Cuban weapons under the sugar and the freighter’s failure to report its true cargo as it prepared to cross the Panama Canal westbound to North Korea. Panama intercepted the ship on a tip it was carrying drugs.

The document included the text of a message, marked “secret,” notifying the captain of the freighter that he would be taking on some unscheduled cargo in Cuba and telling him to inform only his deputy captain and the political and security commissars aboard.

“After unloading in Havana … load the containers first and load the 10,000 tons of sugar (at the next Port) over them so that the containers cannot be seen,” added the message, found aboard the ship.

“The extraordinary and extensive efforts to conceal the cargo of arms” and the freighter’s failure to include the weapons in its cargo manifest “point to a clear and conscious intention to circumvent” the arms embargo, the report said.
The behavior of the Castroit regime is a threat to the international community and shall be punished for its involvement in the weapons smuggling by the North Korea tyrannical regime, in violation of the UN Security Council’s arms embargo. But probably very little will be done by the UN. This behavior certainly would not improve its relations with other countries.
 
Expert: UN unlikely to sanction Cuba for North Korea weapons
Expert: UN unlikely to sanction Cuba for North Korea weapons - Cuba - MiamiHerald.com

BY JUAN O. TAMAYO
JTAMAYO@ELNUEVOHERALD.COM

Cuba almost certainly will not be sanctioned for violating the United Nations weapons embargo on North Korea, but individuals or enterprises from the island or the Asian country might be designated for punishment, analysts say.
The U.N. Security Council committee in charge of enforcing the embargo against Pyongyang is to meet Monday to start considering any punishments for Havana’s shipment of 240 tons of weapons to North Korea, seized by Panama authorities in July.

A panel of U.N. experts reported last week that the weapons, including anti-aircraft missile systems and engines for MIG warplanes, found hidden under 10,000 tons of sugar in the freighter Chong Chon Gang indeed violated the U.N. embargo.
A study underway of violators of the North Korean embargo over several years found that no government was punished, said Hugh Griffiths, a global arms trafficking expert with the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) in Sweden.
“The pattern has really been to sanction individuals and entities,” Griffiths said, adding that the SIPRI study has been reviewing the punishments put in place by the United Nations, the European Union, the United States, Japan and Australia.

“I doubt very much that Cuba would be put under sanctions, based on previous violations,” Griffiths said by phone from Sweden.

The six-page list of entities sanctioned by the U.N. committee in charge of enforcing the arms embargo lists no countries. The embargo was slapped on North Korea under U.N. Security Council Resolutions 1718 and 1874 for its nuclear weapons program.

The committee, officially named the 1718 Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) Sanctions Committee, has three options for handling the Cuba case, according to experts on U.N. procedures.

It could do nothing at all, and Cuba has lots of allies in the United Nations that would prefer that. Havana escaped sanctions after a panel of U.N. aviation exports faulted its killing of four South Florida pilots over international waters in 1996.

But in the case of the North Korean embargo “generally speaking there is some action, because to do otherwise would send the signal that the sanctions can be ignored,” Griffiths added.

The committee could designate individuals or entities as violators, which could lead to the freezing of assets or international travel restrictions. Or it could take technical actions, such as clarifying the weapons and actions covered in Resolutions 1718 and 1874.

Critics of the Cuba’s communist government have held up the shipment as evidence of its duplicity and alliance with a rogue state, although the Obama administration has largely avoided commenting on the case.

Havana has defended the weapons shipment based on a narrow reading of Resolution 1718, which in paragraph 8a bans the “direct or indirect supply, sale or transfer” of weapons to North Korea.

Cuba’s Foreign Ministry, in its only public statement on the case, claimed in August that the “obsolete defensive” weapons aboard the Chong Chon Gang were being sent to North Korea to be repaired and returned to Cuba.

That arrangement might not qualify as a “supply, sale or transfer,” but paragraph 8C of 1718 also bans any “technical training, advice, services or assistance related to the provision, manufacture, maintenance or use” of weapons going to North Korea.

Griffiths added that Cuba’s claim that the weapons were to be returned to the island was “not so credible in any case because the shipment showed several different types of anomalies and inconsistencies.”

A report on the Cuba weapons published by Griffiths in August said the 16 MiG21 engines in the shipment “were securely attached and adequately spaced … covered in layers of protective plastic sheeting and brown paper wrapping” and cradled in improvised transport frames, “suggesting their end use as replacement engines.”

The shipment also included rocket propelled grenades and artillery shells, some of it “in mint condition … and much of it was in original packing cases,” it said. “They clearly were not ‘to be repaired and returned to Cuba.’ Rather, these items were intended simply for delivery to North Korea for its own use.”
Don’t be surprised that the UN will end up doing basically nothing to punish the Castroit dictatorship for selling military weapons to North Korea's tyrannical dictatorship.

Panama should sanction the Castroit regime for this blatant attempt to circumvent international sanctions against the brutal tyrannical regime of North Korea. It could denied passage to suspect ships going to, or coming from the island of Dr. Castro, or by a thorough stem to stern search of any suspicious ship with the island on its itinerary.
 
This guy has to win an award for resuscitating threads nobody has any interest in discussing anymore. Seriously, necromancy is frowned upon even on the internet.
 
This guy has to win an award for resuscitating threads nobody has any interest in discussing anymore. Seriously, necromancy is frowned upon even on the internet.

Yet here you are posting in this "necromantic" thread. How do you explain that?
 
Must Read: U.N. Releases Report on Cuba-North Korea Illegal Weapons Trafficking Capitol Hill Cubans: Must Read: U.N. Releases Report on Cuba-North Korea Illegal Weapons Trafficking


The U.N.'s Panel of Experts ("Panel") has released its official report on North Korea's illegal trafficking of weapons, in conjunction with Cuba's Castro regime.

In July 2013, a North Korean flagged vessel, Chong Chon Gang, was intercepted carrying weaponry from Cuba hidden under 200,000 bags of sugar.

According to the report, such weapons trafficking remains "one of [North Korea's] most profitable revenue sources."

The report also documents North Korea's efforts to sell weaponry to Iran, Somalia, Eritrea, Myanmar and other countries of concern.

In the case of Cuba, it's the first time a nation in the Western Hemisphere is found in blatant violation of U.N. sanctions.

Moreover, the report notes similar Cuba trafficking patterns by other North Korean ships in the recent past.

Here are some notable excerpts from the report:

- The Panel concluded in its incident report submitted to the Committee that both the shipment itself and the transaction between Cuba and the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea were sanctions violations.

- The Panel found that the hidden cargo amounted to six trailers associated with surface-to-air missile systems and 25 shipping containers loaded with two disassembled MiG-21 aircraft, 15 engines for MiG-21 aircraft, components for surface-to-air missile systems, ammunition and miscellaneous arms-related materiel. This constituted the largest amount of arms and related materiel interdicted to or from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea since the adoption of resolution 1718 (2006).

- No records show the ship stopping at any countries other than Cuba between exiting the Panama Canal on 1 June and its return passage on 11 July.

- On 20 June, the ship docked in the port of Mariel, where it took onboard the arms and related materiel.

- Cuba argued that “maintenance”, as set out in paragraph 8 (c) of resolution 1718, was distinct from “repair”, which Cuba claimed was the basis of its contract with the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea... The Panel is unconvinced by Cuba’s rationale to distinguish “maintenance” and “repair.”

- The transportation of undeclared weapons and explosives in this manner posed a significant danger to all persons and facilities in proximity to the ship and should be a cause of concern among shippers, port authorities, the international maritime community and insurers.

- Evidence found on the ship (see annexes XX and XXI) pointed to involvement of Democratic People’s Republic of Korea embassy staff in Cuba. Contact phone numbers and records found in the captain’s notes led the Panel to conclude that embassy officials in Havana were engaged in making arrangements for the shipment of the consignment of arms and related materiel, including the payment methods.

- In its consultations with the Panel, Cuba confirmed the parties involved in the sugar and said that the arms shipment was part of a governmental agreement. It declined,however, to give the Panel copies of these agreements, citing confidentiality clauses in the contracts.

- The incident involving the Chong Chon Gang revealed a comprehensive, planned strategy to conceal the existence and nature of the cargo.

- All identification markings and insignia of the Cuban Revolutionary Air Force had been removed from both MiG-21 aircraft; the Panel observed signs of overspray and scratch marks in places dedicated to original insignia.

- While the age of the items found in the shipment varied greatly, most appeared to have been well maintained. Records accompanying a great deal of the equipment indicated or certified the equipment functioned in accordance with specification or had been calibrated just prior to packing.

- It is the Panel’s view that examining individually the items and their handling suggest that some, if not all, of the consignment was not expected to be returned to Cuba.

- [The Panel] notes that the voyage of another Democratic People’s Republic of Korea-flagged and -owned vessel to Cuba presents a very similar pattern to the recent voyage of the Chong Chon Gang.
- On April 2012, the general cargo vessel O Un Chong Nyon Ho (IMO 8330815) operated by OMM,11 sailed directly from Nampo to Cuba and back without any further calls in the region. After having stopped in Havana and Puerto Padre, the O Un Chong Nyon Ho drifted for several weeks off northern Cuba before returning for three weeks to Havana. Its Automatic Identification System was switched off (in violation of IMO requirements) during these three weeks, however, effectively preventing determination of further ports’ calls,as in the case of the Chong Chon Gang.


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Raul Castro greeting General Kim Kyok-sik in Havana in July 2013
The U.N. Security Council detail report has concluded that the Castroit regime concealed tons of armaments under sacks of sugar on the North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang, and that all the weapons were in full working order, in violation of the sanctions.
 
The U.N. Security Council detail report has concluded that the Castroit regime concealed tons of armaments under sacks of sugar on the North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang, and that all the weapons were in full working order, in violation of the sanctions.

At least that's what the CapitalhillCubans.com tell us apparently. Nice source there champ!
 
Taking the Castroit regime off the list of state sponsors of terrorism will be a big mistake. This is a communist regime extremely anti-American, and among the most repressive tyrannical regime on the world.
 
One military with 50 year old weapons shipping arms to another country with 50 year old weapons.

:yawn:
 
This guy has to win an award for resuscitating threads nobody has any interest in discussing anymore. Seriously, necromancy is frowned upon even on the internet.

He also just keeps updating threads even if nobody responds. You can find entire threads with just Sandokan posts.
 
Confirmed North Koreas Ambassador to Cuba Executed
Capitol Hill Cubans: Confirmed: North Korea's Ambassador to Cuba Executed

First, the head of Cuba's Air Force, General Pedro Mendiondo, dies in a mysterious car crash.

Then, North Korea's Army Chief, General Kim Kyok-sik, was mysteriously purged.

And now, it has been confirmed that North Korea's Ambassador to Cuba, Jon Yong-jin, has been executed (below).

As the U.N. Panel of Experts recently revealed, the smuggling of Cuban weapons to North Korea was negotiated and transacted from its Embassy in Havana.

It seems the Kim and Castro regimes are going to great lengths to cover their illegal smuggling scheme.

From Seoul's leading newspaper, The Chosun Ilbo:

N.Korea Shuts Down Jang Song-taek's Department
The Chosun Ilbo (English Edition): Daily News from Korea - N.Korea Shuts Down Jang Song-taek's Department

The North Korean regime has shut down the Workers Party department once headed by purged eminence grise Jang Song-taek and executed or interned 11 high-ranking officials, sources said Sunday.

One of them was burned alive.

A source said the regime is preparing a third purge of officials who supported Jang. The first purge involved his family, relatives and high-ranking party officials, while the second purge underway. The third will target his supporters in provincial chapters of the Workers Party.

The source said Jang's elder sister Kye-sun and her husband and ambassador to Cuba Jon Yong-jin, as well as their son-in-law Kim Yong-ho, who was head of a trading company, were executed. But ambassador to Malaysia Jang Yong-chol, Jang's nephew, escaped with his life.

He was sent to a concentration camp shortly after Jang Song-taek's execution but was ordered to return to Pyongyang without a job after South Korean media reported rumors of his execution.


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A young dictator has to quickly consolidate his power, and there's no better way to do it than through terror. He has followed the example of the Castroit tyrannical regime. The island of Dr. Castro is a big jail where the regime jailers physically and mentally abuse their victims. They have locked the doors and thrown away the keys.
 
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