Panama seizes North Korean ship

[Bacchus4.0]

Panama's president said the country has seized a North Korean-flagged ship carrying what appeared to be ballistic missiles and other arms that had set sail from Cuba.

Panamanian President Ricardo Martinelli told RPC radio on Monday that the ship had been headed for North Korea.

There were no immediate details on the quantity of arms aboard.

Martinelli said the undeclared military cargo appeared to include missiles and non-conventional arms. He said the ship was violating United Nations resolutions against arms trafficking.

http://news.yahoo.com/panama-seizes-north-korean-ship-100425054.html

[Mika]

1. Spin spin spin. The Ship was from Russia

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-23324170

>> It had left Russia's far east in April and travelled across the Pacific Ocean before entering the canal at the start of June, with Cuba as its stated destination.<<

[Socialistlemur]

2. The bbc then says

It went to Cuba and was searched on its way back. So the question is whether the ship had those weapons aboard after it left Russia? Why should it? The Russians share a border with North Korea. So...let me think. A CIA mole in Russia loaded the containers aboard the ship. The captain was a CIA agent as well. So he arrived in Cuba with the weapons aboard, loaded the sugar on top and then went on to get caught.

This could be a CIA trap to put a squeeze on the Cubans. It's pretty smart.

[naaman fletcher]

3. sounds like Cuba:

In a report sent to subscribers Tuesday, Lloyd's List Intelligence said the ship's last known port call was in Vostochnyy, Russia. It departed April 12 with a stated destination of Havana, traveled west of Japan and then across the Pacific to arrive in Balboa, Panama, on May 31.

It crossed through the Panama Canal the following day.

"And then we lose track of it, there's no AIS information," said Daryl Williamson, director of maritime data at Lloyd's List Intelligence in London, referring to the Automatic Identification System of tracking maritime traffic using on-board transponders.

"What's been said by the Panamanian authorities is consistent with the observations, but we haven't been able to verify by 'eyes-on' the arrival in Cuba," he added.

There was no confirmation of its arrival in Havana. The ship then popped up again in Cristobal, Panama, on July 12.

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/07/16/panama-north-korean-ship/2520109/

[Bacchus4.0]

5. the cargo of sugar on top of the missles seems pretty suspicious

lol!!

[Bacchus4.0]

4. no. It traveled to Cuba picked up its load and was on the way back

when it was intercepted.

[Zorro]

7. Well it could be Cuba's new cigar shipping container

[joshcryer]

8. Cuba itself said the ship was returning to NK to repair defense weapons.

Whether the ship originated from Russia is immaterial.

[sabrina 1]

6. WMDS!! WMDS!! Lol!

They're going to have to do better than this. They kind of wore out the old WMD tales long ago.

And the Corporate media plays along, as usual.

Yawn!

Anyone catch the WMDs going to the Syrian mercenaries posing as rebels btw?

[joshcryer]

9. Apologia for the arms industry on Lat. Am. right here folks.

Par for the course.

[joshcryer]

10. Cuba's statement:

Cuba said on Tuesday evening that the ship was loaded at one of its ports with 10,000 tons of sugar and 240 tons of "obsolete defensive weaponry," according to a statement by the Cuban Foreign Ministry.

Cuba said the weapons were being sent back to North Korea for repair and included two anti-aircraft missile batteries, nine disassembled rockets, two MiG-21 fighter jets, and 15 MiG-21 engines, all Soviet-era military weaponry built in the middle of the last century.

In the statement, which was read out on the state TV evening news, Cuba said the weaponry was all required "to maintain our defensive capacity to preserve national sovereignty." It added, "Cuba maintains its commitment to peace including nuclear disarmament and international law."

http://news.yahoo.com/panama-says-finds-weapons-north-korean-ship-coming-002715094.html

Nothing North Korea doesn't already have the tech for, really. If anything it seems more like a diplomatic thing where North Korea didn't really have anything to offer Cuba and Cuba had to come up with something tangible that North Korea could say it successfully did.

Cuba knows fuck all this outdated technology wouldn't protect it from a legitimate threat.

In the end it's highly embarrassing for Cuba. Hopefully the sugar shipment is allowed to move forward.

[naaman fletcher]

11. "Spin spin spin. The Ship was from Russia" nt

[Socialistlemur]

12. Then my theory about a CIA trap was off

This puts Cuba in a difficult situation because there were undeclared weapons shipments to North Korea. Whether they were intended to be repaired or not is an excellent question. I do wonder why the Cubans couldn't get Russian technicians to come to Cuba and repair the equipment there? Or was this a way to get around UN sanctions? Cuba can't provide assurances those weapons were to be returned.

The. USA is clearly focused on an emerging Venecuba threat because the Cuban sway and control over Venezuela's government is evident. Some may question my position, but ever since Maduro took power we have observed quite a few moves to roll back and fix problems left behind or created by Chavez, mainly the crime and corruption. We have also seen half baked economic moves, and the government headed in the direction of eliminating the power of students and universities. This is clearly Raul Castro flavored. That is hard moves against crime and corruption but also moves to impose a more centralized command and control system over society. Other problems such as the total breakdown in the judiciary haven't been addressed.

Therefore if I put on my American elite hat I see Venezuela controlled by Cubans. This hybrid has serious economic weaknesses but they have a strategic location. Venezuela's oil is a non issue because its production is lower and the crude, which is mostly low quality can be replaced with Canadian crude. Therefore the potential threat from Venecuba arises precisely from both geography and their alliance with regimes the USA considers potential threats to its allies. This includes North Korea and Iran. Therefore I'd expect them to use this weapons find to squeeze Cuba.

The biggest threat the USA can use is to warn USA citizens to abandon Venezuela and cut back the Cuban diaspora remits of cash to Cuba. The Cuban exile community is the biggest source of funds for the regime, after Venezuelan subsidies with tourism in third place. Thus Cuban behavior in taking over Venezuela using the Manchurian candidate, Maduro, may backfire real bad. I do wonder if this weapons shipment may not have been orchestrated by Cubans inside the government who are tired of the half baked communist approach and want to execute a revolution against the dinosaur establishment. Meaning there are forces led by Diaz Canel rebelling against Fidel Castro? Time will tell.