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Thursday 1 december 2016

UN further tightens North Korea Cuba:
sanctions for recent nuclear test Fidel Castro’s ashes begin historic journey

MICHAEL ASTOR M. WEISSENSTEIN Sunday, ending a nine-day “Now I don’t know how
Associated Press PETER ORSI period of mourning that things are going to be.”
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The U.N. Security Council vot- Associated Press saw the country fall silent as Some slept on sidewalks
ed Wednesday to further tighten sanctions on North HAVANA (AP) — Surround- thousands paid tribute to overnight to bid goodbye
Korea following months of diplomatic wrangling over ed by white roses and photographs of Fidel Cas- to Castro after attending
how best to respond to North Korea’s latest nuclear drawn by a green military tro and sign oaths of loyalty a massive Revolution Pla-
test in September and their repeated defiance of in- jeep, Fidel Castro’s ashes to his socialist, single-party za rally Tuesday night. The
ternational sanctions and diplomatic pressure. began a more than 500- system across the country presidents of Cuba, Mexi-
The council unanimously approved the sanctions reso-
lution with diplomats hailing it as a major step forward
in its efforts to get the Democratic People’s Republic of
Korea (DPRK) to abandon its nuclear ambitions.
“In March, this council passed what were then the
toughest sanctions to date on the DPRK. But the DPRK
remained as determined as ever to continue advanc-
ing its nuclear technology. The DPRK found ways to
continue diverting revenue from exports to fund its re-
search, it tried to cover up its business dealings abroad,
and it looked for openings to smuggle illicit materials by
land, sea, and air. U.S. Ambassador Samantha Power
said following the vote. “Today’s resolution systemati-
cally goes after each of these illicit schemes.”
The new sanctions target North Korea’s hard currency
revenues by placing a cap on coal exports, cutting
them by at least 62 percent or by an estimated $800
million.
The new sanctions further clarify that the “livelihood”
exemption, which allowed the Chinese imports, is
meant only to protect the livelihoods of those currently
living inside North Korea, not Chinese people or com-
panies doing business with the country.
The sanctions also slap a ban on North Korea’s exports Backdropped by the Hotel Nacional, people hold Cuban flags as they wait for the motorcade
of non-ferrous metals and sanction 11 government of- transporting the remains of Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana, Cuba, Wednesday, Nov. 30,
ficials as well as 10 entities linked to the country’s nu- 2016. Castro’s ashes have begun a four-day journey across Cuba from Havana to their final rest-
clear weapons program. ing place in the eastern city of Santiago.
The sanctions include a host of other measures crack-
ing down on the country’s access to the international mile (800-kilometer) journey on Monday and Tuesday. co, Ecuador, Bolivia, Ven-
banking system and on North Korea’s export of statues, on Wednesday across the Wednesday’s proces- ezuela and South Africa,
which have earned the country hard currency mostly country he ruled for nearly sion was the first moment along with leaders of a host
through sales to African nations. 50 years. in which ordinary Cubans of smaller nations, offered
The resolution also threatens, for the first time, to sus- Just after 7 a.m, an honor saw the remains of the man speeches paying tribute.
pend some or all of North Korea’s U.N. privileges if it guard placed a small, flag- who led a band of beard- Castro’s younger brother
does not comply. draped cedar coffin under ed young fighters out of the and successor, Raul, closed
North Korea’s main ally and largest trade partner, Chi- a glass dome on a trailer Sierra Maestra mountains, with a speech thanking
na hailed the sanctions as striking a balance between behind the Russian jeep. overthrew strongman Ful- world leaders for prais-
punishing the rogue nation and protecting its people. Thousands of soldiers and gencio Batista, faced off ing his brother, whom he
“The resolution adopted by the council today demon- state security agents salut- against the United States called the leader of a revo-
strates the uniform stand of the international commu- ed the 90-year-old leader’s for decades and imposed lution “for the humble, and
nity against the development by DPRK of its nuclear remains as they rolled slow- Soviet-style communism on by the humble.”
missile programs and forward the maintenance of the ly out of Havana’s Plaza the largest island in the Ca- The crowds at the rally and
international non-proliferation regime,” China’s Am- of the Revolution and the ribbean. along Wednesday’s route
bassador Liu Jieyi said, adding that the measures “are cortege made its way to For many Cubans, seeing were a mix of people at-
not intended to produce negative consequences on the Malecon seaside bou- the coffin of a man who tending on their own and
DPRK’s humanitarian situation.” levard and east into the dominated life here for a sent by the government
But Jieyi also criticized the planned U.S. deployment of countryside. half-century made the idea in groups from their state
a missile shield in South Korea as potentially destabiliz- Tens of thousands of Cu- of a Cuba without Fidel workplaces.
ing for the region. bans lined the path of the Castro real for the first time “We love the comandante
Japan’s Ambassador Koro Bessho said he hoped the funeral procession, which since his death Friday night. and I think it’s our obliga-
increased pressure would bring North Korea back to retraced the path of Cas- Juan Carlos Gonzalez, 26, tion to be here and see him
the negotiating table. tro’s triumphant march into the owner of a private res- out,” said Mercedes An-
“We are introducing the sanctions, not for the sake Havana nearly six decades taurant that serves tradi- tunez, 59, who was bused
of introducing sanctions but in order to change the ago. Many waved flags tional Cuban food in the in by the state athletics or-
course of DPRK policy. If the DPRK shows commitment and shouted “Long may he central city of Santa Clara, ganization from her home
to denuclearization, serious commitment and con- live!” Others filmed the pro- said there was a greater in east Havana along with
crete actions, we are certainly ready to come into dia- cession with cell phones, a sense of uncertainty with- fellow employees.
logue with them and try to solve the situation,” Bessho luxury prohibited in Cuba out Fidel and he couldn’t Carpenter Rene Mena, 58,
said. until an ailing Castro left say whether that was posi- said his mother had taken
North Korea’s persistent pursuit of missiles and nuclear power in 2006 and his tive or negative. him out of their home on
weapons has long been one of the most intractable younger brother Raul be- “The one who ruled the the seafront boulevard as
foreign policy problems for U.S. administrations.q gan a series of slow reforms. country was Fidel, in my a baby to see Castro arrive
The ashes will be interred opinion,” Gonzalez said. that year. q