The Cuban Cargo Caper

The Cuban Cargo Caper
Arturo López-Levy | July 26, 2013

Earlier this month, Panamanian security forces seized an undeclared
stash of weapons aboard the North Korean ship Chong Chon Gang. The
revelation that the shipment was from Havana has sparked interesting
speculation, with some commentators making references to the Cuban
Missile Crisis of 1962.

Just a day after the ship was stopped, Cuban authorities claimed
ownership of the sugar and weapons found. Cuba's Ministry of Foreign
Affairs released a statement saying that the weapons were obsolete, from
the mid-twentieth century, and were headed to North Korea for repair as
part of an agreement between the two countries.

Cuba's explanation sought to calm the hype surrounding the incident and
seems to be accurate in describing the weapons as outdated. If what they
say is correct, then this incident in Panama was a political mistake,
which, to paraphrase Talleyrand, is "worse than a crime." The arms may
be obsolete, but nevertheless, shipment and transfer to North Korea is a
violation of UN sanctions. (Given North Korea's aggressive behavior, the
Security Council, acting under chapter VII of the UN Charter, explicitly
prohibits any military-related transaction with the Pyongyang regime.)

This incident reveals a serious lack of institutional coordination
between Cuba's branches of government. It could not come at a worse
time, just after the announcement of a new wave of economic reforms by
Vice President Murillo and on the eve of migration talks with United
States. The nature of diplomacy means that although they are officially
about migration, these negotiations will include other topics. If
President Raul Castro is serious about order and efficiency, as he has
stated, then this situation qualifies as a major fiasco and should
result in several dismissals.

This will also have serious repercussions for foreign policy. Those
confiscated weapons are not in themselves a threat to the United States
or world peace, but Cuba will now have to answer to the Security Council
committee that administers UN sanctions. Worse, Cuba's image in the
world is already harmed by a link to a regime with one of the worst
human-rights records and erratic international behavior. The Democratic
People's Republic of Korea is not of the people, nor is it democratic or
a republic. It is a dynastic regime, with each new descendant of the
house of Kim worse than the last. Cubans should know better. Just last
April 5, former president Fidel Castro urged the North Korean leadership
to behave reasonably and "prevent a war in Korea."

The Cuban leadership should prepare for serious damage control. Cuba
remains on the U.S. State Department's list of state sponsors of
terrorism, even though the Bush administration removed North Korea from
it. Cuba should keep its distance from North Korea's dog-and-pony show
and fully cooperate with the UN. It's not enough to cobble together a
paragraph about Cuba's commitment to world peace and disarmament.
Havana, as a member of the international community, must declare its
unequivocal rejection of attempts by North Koreans to sneak into the
club of nuclear powers. It is time to set priorities: Cuba should focus
on creating a friendly international environment for its ongoing
reforms. Everything else is secondary.

Something Always Happens

Taking place on the eve of the resumption of bilateral talks based on
the 1994-95 U.S.-Cuban migration accords, the detention of the Chong
Chon Gang evokes an old pattern in bilateral relations between Havana
and Washington. Not only have relations been held hostage by Cold War
logic, they have also suffered from unexpected pitfalls. "Something
always happens," say the pessimists. The instant the news broke about
the ship being confiscated by Panamanian president Ricardo Martinelli,
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen and Senator Marco Rubio demanded the
talks be called off and reiterated that Cuba must remain on the list of
terrorist-sponsoring countries. That is exactly the opposite of what the
reaction should be.

It is time for policymakers in Havana and Washington to learn some
crisis management, linking or separating issues as convenient to
national interests, rather than leaving them up to the circus of the
radicals on both sides. The United States should focus its superpower
efforts where the threat warrants: Pyongyang. The discovery of this
Cuban-North Korean violation offers an opportunity to further isolate
the North Korean regime, adding measures of monitoring and control of
any transaction with the country. North Korea is a threat to peace in
East Asia, a violator of the nuclearnonproliferation system and a known
smuggler of weapons to conflict zones such as the Congo or Yemen. Cuba
is none of these things.

Any action against Cuba should take place within the multilateral
framework of the sanctions against North Korea. It is up to the Security
Council to get full cooperation from Cuba on this incident, in such a
way that intensifies North Korea's isolation. As White House press
secretary Jay Carney declared: "if it's determined that materials found
on board that vessel violate sanctions, then the body that levied the
sanctions…would handle enforcement matters." Abandoning negotiations on
the implementation of migration agreements or continuing to unfairly
keep Cuba on the list of terrorism-sponsoring countries distracts from
efforts to place greater pressure on North Korea.

Cuba must answer for its alleged violation of UN Security Council
resolutions 1718, 1874 and 2094. But Senator Rubio would like the United
States to approach the situation like a butcher, when what is needed is
a surgeon. U.S. diplomacy is sophisticated enough to correct its flawed
policy towards Cuba while at the same time supporting multilateral
pressure exerted by the UN's seamless application of sanctions against
the DPRK. It is not in the national interest to obfuscate clear
multilateral standards of nonproliferation applied to any military
transaction with the DPRK with arbitrary and unilateral double standards
on terrorism applied to Cuba. There is plenty of evidence that North
Korea has violated the nuclear nonproliferation regime, while none
exists that Cuba participated or sponsored any terrorist act in the last
twenty years.

Avoiding Another Mistake

The resumption of migration talks between Cuba and the United States is
an opportunity to launch a new positive cycle in the bilateral
relationship. High-level negotiations on topics amenable to give and
take creates incentives for goodwill gestures, even in areas that are
not officially included on the agenda—such as the imprisonment of U.S.
aid worker Alan Gross and the inclusion of Cuba on the state sponsors of
terrorism list. An act of goodwill by one party may be reciprocated by
the other. Official face-to-face communication safeguards against one
party pocketing unilateral concession without reciprocating.

Assuming there is no faction in Havana interested in "egging on"
hostility between the two countries for their own benefit—a notion that
is too conspiratorial but that cannot be dismissed outright—Cuba's
decision to ship obsolete Soviet military equipment in a North Korean
ship was irresponsible. By following through with the bilateral talks
while demanding application of the UN resolutions, President Obama's
administration has made the wise decision not to respond to
irresponsible behavior with more of the same. Hopefully it will remain
on that course.

Arturo López-Levy is a PhD candidate at the Josef Korbel School of
International Studies at the University of Denver. He worked as a
political analyst for the Cuban government since 1992 until his
resignation in 1994. He is coauthor of the book Raul Castro and the New
Cuba. Twitter: @turylevy.

Source: "Commentary: The Cuban Cargo Caper | The National Interest" -
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/the-cuban-cargo-caper-8782