Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06HAVANA21268
2006-10-16 21:01:00
CONFIDENTIAL
US Interests Section Havana
Cable title:  

CUBAN GOVT SIGNALS LINGERING IRE OVER DPRK NUKE

Tags:  PREL KN PARM KNNP CU 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO6546
RR RUEHAG RUEHROV
DE RUEHUB #1268/01 2892101
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 162101Z OCT 06
FM USINT HAVANA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8614
INFO RUCNMEM/EU MEMBER STATES
RUEHWH/WESTERN HEMISPHERIC AFFAIRS DIPL POSTS
RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING 0030
RUEHUL/AMEMBASSY SEOUL 0010
RUEHKO/AMEMBASSY TOKYO 0008
RHEHNSC/NSC WASHDC
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 021268 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2016
TAGS: PREL KN PARM KNNP CU
SUBJECT: CUBAN GOVT SIGNALS LINGERING IRE OVER DPRK NUKE
TEST

REF: HAVANA 20783

HAVANA 00021268 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(e).

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 HAVANA 021268

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE DEPT FOR WHA/CCA

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/16/2016
TAGS: PREL KN PARM KNNP CU
SUBJECT: CUBAN GOVT SIGNALS LINGERING IRE OVER DPRK NUKE
TEST

REF: HAVANA 20783

HAVANA 00021268 001.3 OF 002


Classified By: COM Michael Parmly for Reason 1.4(e).


1. (C) Cuban state media on October 14 disseminated a
statement from the 183-nation Non-Aligned Movement (NAM),
currently headed by Cuba, on North Korea's reported nuclear
blast. The statement, approved the previous day at UN
headquarters, urges North Korea, a NAM member, to halt its
nuclear testing and to stick to the group's disarmament
goals. The NAM also called on all concerned parties in
northeast Asia not to transfer nuclear weapons-related
materials, equipment or technology, and to exercise
restraint. By spreading the NAM statement, the Cuban
Government signaled its lingering unhappiness over the DPRK's
reported test; on October 10, the GOC showed its ire in a
press item that noted UNSC condemnation of the incident and
firm Chinese opposition. Meanwhile, Cuban state radio
referred October 16 to "Iran's peaceful nuclear energy
program." (NAM statement text follows in Paragraph 3.)

COMMENT
--------------


2. (C) The Cuban Government's latest, indirect denunciation
of the reported DPRK test is aimed at helping the island
nation stay in the good graces of China, its patron and
opponent of the reported underground blast. Dissemination of
the NAM statement has the added benefit of enabling the GOC
to flex some NAM-presidency muscle and strut its stuff on the
global stage. There can be little doubt that Cuba's
leadership, which once called for a Soviet nuclear strike
against the United States, is motivated by calculated
self-interest. Perhaps this is why Cuban state radio on
October 16 referred to "Iran's peaceful nuclear energy
program" during a report on Iran's rejection of any
restrictions on its nuclear program. End Comment.

STATEMENT FROM NON-ALIGNED MOVEMENT
--------------


3. (U) Following is a statement from the Non-Aligned
Movement, as relayed by Granma, the official mouthpiece of
the Cuban Communist Party:

The Coordination Bureau of the Non-Aligned Movement has
expressed its concern at, while acknowledging the
complexities derived from the nuclear test in the Korean
Peninsula, which underscores the need to work even more
vigorously to achieve the Movement's disarmament objectives,
including the elimination of nuclear weapons. The Movement
exhorts the implicated parties in the region to exercise
moderation, which will contribute to regional security; to
discontinue nuclear tests; and not to transfer materials,
equipment and technology related to nuclear weapons.

The Movement expresses its desire for the de-nuclearization
of the Korean Peninsula and continues to support the renewal
of Six-Party Talks as soon as possible. The Movement firmly
believes that diplomacy and dialogue via peaceful means must
continue with a view to achieving a long-term solution to the
Korean nuclear question.

In the light of this action, the Movement reaffirms its
principled position in relation to nuclear disarmament, which
continues being its maximum priority, as well as issues
related to nuclear non-proliferation in all its aspects, and
emphasizes its concern at the threat that the permanent
existence of nuclear weapons and their potential use or
threat of use supposes for humanity. At the same time, it
reiterates its profound concern at the slow advance toward
nuclear disarmament and the lack of progress on the part of
states possessing nuclear weapons in the total elimination of
their nuclear arsenals. It highlights the need for states
possessing nuclear weapons to fulfil the unequivocal
commitment that they contracted in 2000 in matters referring
to obtaining the total elimination of nuclear weapons and, in
this context, stresses the pressing need to begin
negotiations without delay.

The Movement stresses its principles and priorities on the
issue of disarmament and international security, as adopted
at the 14th Conference of Heads of State or Government of the
Non-Aligned Movement that took place in Havana, Cuba from

HAVANA 00021268 002.3 OF 002


September 11 to 16, 2006.
PARMLY