CUBA TO HELP DEFUSE FEUD

Havana urges Pyongyang to avert showdown with US

HAVANA

CUBAN President Raul Castro met North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho on Friday amid hopes the Communist-run island might be able to convince its Asian ally to avert a showdown with the United States.

North Korea is facing unprecedented pressure from the US and the international community to cease its nuclear weapons and missile programmes.

Cuba has maintained close diplomatic ties with North Korea since 1960 ,but is opposed to nuclear weapons.

“In the brotherly encounter, both sides commented on the historic friendship between the two nations and talked about international topics of mutual interest,” Cuban state television said.

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said on Thursday he had discussed with Castro last year the possibility of working together to defuse global tensions with North Korea.

Canada had an interest in seeking solutions, not just because of regional security, but also because the flight path of North Korean missiles would pass over its territory, Trudeau said.

North Korea is working on developing nuclear-tipped missiles capable of hitting the US mainland, aiming to achieve what Ri has called “a real balance of power with the US”.

Ri met his Cuban counterpart Bruno Rodriguez this week and the ministers denounced US “unilateral and arbitrary lists and designations” that led to “coercive measures contrary to international law”, according to Cuba’s foreign ministry.

The ministers called for “respect for peoples’ sovereignty” and the “peaceful settlement of disputes”, according to a ministry statement.

North Korea and Cuba are the last countries in the world to maintain Soviet-style command economies, though under Raul Castro, the Caribbean nation has taken small steps toward the more market-oriented communism of China and Vietnam. Reuters