Biden: Cuba-North Korea Arms Smuggling Threat to Global Security

capitolhillcubans

The questions remain:

Will Cuba suffer any consequences for this violation of international sanctions and threat to "global security"?

Or will it continue to be "business as usual"?

Excerpt from today's remarks by U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden in Panama City:

As we streamline the travel and trade, we're also working together to stop illegal trafficking. Panama has interdicted 175 metric tons of cocaine. Cooperation between our law enforcement agencies is excellent and been at a peak that hasn't existed before. And Panama is rising and in some cases exceeding its responsibilities not only to us, but to the region.

And so last July, a vessel traveling through the Panama Canal from Cuba to North Korea claimed it was carrying sugar. Well, it was a sweet cargo, but it wasn't sugar. It wasn't sugar. And Panama did something we haven't come to expect everywhere in the world -- it stepped up. It stepped up where others might have stepped back. We think it's a violation of U.S. sanctions. But, nonetheless, Panama stepped up. You found and confiscated weapons heading from Cuba to North Korea.

The United States is thankful for your taking on that international responsibility. And you made a significant contribution for real to global security, not just U.S. security. We are pretty well capable of handling our own security. But you contributed to global security. That is what responsible nations do and that's what you have done.