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Jet skis and boat burned in Cartago club
Photo:
Private file @JoseWilmerPache
Jet skis and boat burned in Cartago club
The authorities have not specified the origin of the authors of the attack with incendiary bombs.
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AC
February 28, 2022, 07:31 AM
JV
Joseph Louis Valencia February 28, 2022, 07:31 AM
Five boats for water sports were burned in the attack committed during the night in the municipality of Cartago, on the border with Risaralda.
Preliminary reports indicate that Men with hoods entered the Cartago Nautical Club around 9:00 on Saturday night, installed on the banks of the Cauca River, between the departments of Valle and Risaralda.
(You may be interested: Gunmen kill a merchant in a fishing club in the Valley)
Attack with incendiary bombs in Cartago yacht club
The version, based on images captured on security cameras, shows when at least two men arrive at the site where several ships used for sports and recreation activities were.
At such times, the hooded men reportedly use a flammable liquid or incendiary bombs, known as Molotovs, to set the fire. Then they disappear from the place.
Four jet ski nautical motorcycles, a pontoon (type of boat) and a boat are incinerated there. Some of these teams would belong to people who arrived from Medellín. A camabaja was also burned.
In a statement, the Valley Police indicated that “guidance is being provided to those affected to generate the respective complaints and determine the circumstances of time, mode and place of occurrence of this fire”
Read more news from Colombia
University rectors receive 7,000 scholarship students in Cali
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February 28, 2022, 07:31 AM
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Joseph Louis Valencia February 28, 2022, 07:31 AM
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A former White House national security adviser said the Biden administration should call on China to act to show that it is serious about denuclearizing North Korea and that Washington’s options for dealing with North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs are running out fast.
“For too many years, we have let China get away with responsibility for North Korea,” said John Bolton, the national security adviser to former President Donald Trump from April 2018 to September 2019. “As part of the realignment of American policy toward Beijing … China’s responsibility for North Korea has to be put at the center.”
Bolton said during an interview with VOA’s Korean Service on Friday that the Biden administration’s options for dealing with North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs are “small and decreasing rapidly” as the regime’s “immediate threat” of intermediate-range ballistic missiles is “present right now.”
North Korea tested 11 missiles in January, concluding the month with an intermediate-range ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam.
Denuclearization talks between Washington and Pyongyang have been stalled since October 2019.
Washington has been expressing its openness to meet with Pyongyang without preconditions, but North Korea has largely dismissed the calls for talks.
Ken Gause, director of the Adversary Analytics Program at the research and analysis organization CNA, said one option Washington has right now is to “try to freeze” North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missile programs.
“Denuclearization is a bridge too far right now,” Gause said. “A wiser thing to do is to try to put things on the table in return for a freeze — no provocations, no proliferation, and no tests.”
China key to denuclearization
Bolton said the threat of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons proliferation “is increasing day by day” and suggested the Biden administration needs to ensure China takes action to back up statements that it does not want a nuclear North Korea.
“China has masqueraded for 30 years as just another disinterested party that says it doesn’t want North Korea to have nuclear weapons. Well, if it were serious, it could make that happen,” Bolton said.
“I think it’s important to the world that we put China to the proof on this – either you do what you alone have the capability of doing, which is changing the regime behavior in North Korea, or we draw the conclusion, the legitimate conclusion, that you’re fine with North Korea having a nuclear weapon,” he added.
China, North Korea’s top trading partner, has often been accused of helping Pyongyang evade U.N. sanctions placed on North Korea in 2016 to curb its nuclear and missile programs.
Liu Pengyu, a spokesperson for the Chinese Embassy in Washington, told VOA’s Korean Service on Friday evening that “China’s position on the Korean Peninsula issue is consistent and clear. We hope relevant sides will resolve respective concerns through dialogue and consultation.”
He continued, saying “China has always been seriously implementing U.N. Security Council resolutions concerning DPRK. As long as the resolutions are still effective, we will earnestly fulfill our international responsibilities and deal with relevant matters according to the resolutions.”
Bolton said North Korea is unlikely to give up its nuclear weapons and missile programs through negotiations, adding that the U.S. should not rule out considering the possibility of a regime change or the use of force as an option.
“The U.S. should not be held hostage by a regime like this,” Bolton said. “That’s why possibilities for regime change or if necessary, use of force against the North Korean nuclear program cannot be ruled out.”
VOA’s Korean Service contacted North Korea’s U.N. Mission for comment on Bolton’s remarks but did not receive a reply.
Other options
Other experts believe the U.S. should pursue a diplomatic solution.
Gary Samore, former White House coordinator for arms control and weapons of mass destruction during the Obama administration, said Washington should seek a deal with Pyongyang through negotiations, although he admits “denuclearization is not possible for the foreseeable future.”
“I expect the U.S. will seek to limit North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs in exchange for political and economic steps, such as sanctions relief,” he said.
The Biden administration says it remains committed to diplomacy with North Korea.
“The United States holds no hostile intent towards the DPRK and we are open to meeting the DPRK without preconditions,” a State Department spokesperson told VOA’s Korean Service on Thursday. DPRK represents North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Liu, the Chinese Embassy spokesperson, said “If the U.S. truly cares about the well-being of the DPRK people, it should not keep pressuring the DPRK with sanctions. Instead, it should face up to the denuclearization measures already taken by the DPRK, respond to its legitimate and reasonable concerns and take measures to ease sanctions on the DPRK.”
Bolton expressed skepticism about an idea floated by some North Korea watchers that the Biden administration should try Trump-style personal diplomacy or high-level engagement to reengage North Korean leader Kim Jong Un into denuclearization talks.
Bolton was present at the two summits that Trump held with Kim, first in Singapore in June 2018 and then in Hanoi in February 2019.
“They gave cover for North Korea systemically to make additional progress on its nuclear and ballistic missile programs under the appearance that they were trying to work out an arrangement with President Trump,” he said.
With denuclearization talks with North Korea stalled and missile tests accelerating, some experts are wondering whether Washington should offer high-level, person-to-person talks to re-engage Pyongyang to end the current stalemate and de-escalate tensions.
“The U.S. should consider any type of engagement that will help restart diplomatic talks aimed at peace and denuclearization, including senior-level official meetings,” said Frank Aum, a senior expert on North Korea at the U.S. Institute of Peace.
Harry Kazianis, a senior director at the Center for National Interest, said, “Offering high-level talks is an easy way to try and convince the North Koreans Washington is serious about talks.”
The Biden administration is facing criticism that its approach to North Korea is not working as Pyongyang ratchets up tension while ignoring Washington’s offer of talks without preconditions.
Pyongyang conducted 11 missile launches in January, setting a record for a single month. It also raised the possibility of restarting nuclear or intercontinental ballistic missile tests and bragged that it is the only country that can use its weaponry to strike the U.S.
Stalemate amid tensions
Talks with Pyongyang deadlocked in October 2019 after a working-level meeting held in Stockholm to save the failed summit in Hanoi dissolved without progress.
The Hanoi summit held in February 2019 between former President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un broke down when Trump rejected Kim’s demand for full sanctions relief in exchange for partial denuclearization.
Critics at the time slammed Trump for meeting with Kim, first in Singapore in June 2018 and then in Hanoi, without securing a concrete denuclearization deal. Trump was also often criticized for exchanging what he frequently hailed as “beautiful” personal letters with Kim.
But with diplomacy stalled, North Korea watchers around the world are wondering if Trump-style, person-to-person diplomacy should be retried to reengage Kim.
A survey of 250 Pyongyang watchers by NK News found nearly half of 82 respondents voted Trump’s summit diplomacy with Kim as “the best decision by Washington during the Kim Jong Un era.”
FILE – Then-U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as they meet at the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas, in Panmunjom, South Korea, June 30, 2019.
High-level engagement
Similarly, some experts think Washington should try what Trump tried — sending a letter — to jump-start the talks, while holding off any leadership summits until nuclear envoys hammer out a denuclearization deal.
“A letter from Biden to Kim may provide Kim the level of seriousness and respect he is looking for while also not undermining any red lines that the Biden administration has set, such as a premature summit or providing sanctions relief upfront,” said Aum.
“It is probably prudent to hold off on a summit until the two sides can confirm that actual progress has been achieved,” Aum added.
Scott Snyder, director of the program on U.S.-Korean policy at the Council on Foreign Relations, said sending North Korea “a letter or an emissary are plausible options.” He said Kim “seeks evidence of seriousness of purpose from the U.S.” on its offer for talks.
Other experts think the U.S. should not try Trump-style, top-down diplomacy leading with a summit.
Bruce Klingner, senior research fellow for Northeast Asia at the Heritage Foundation, said, “President Trump’s approach to North Korea — engaging in summit meetings with no prior substantive progress or preparation — was an aberrant from standard U.S. diplomacy and should not be followed.”
Klingner continued, “The United States should not offer senior-level meetings or even presidential correspondence without some indication that North Korea is receptive to dialogue.”
Failed approach
Evans Revere, a former State Department official with extensive experience negotiating with North Korea, said, “The issue is not the level of dialogue.”
Revere continued, “Washington has not ruled in or out any particular level of engagement. The issue is North Korea’s lack of interest in engagement either with Washington or Seoul. North Korea does not seem to want talks at this point. Rather, Pyongyang wants concessions, mainly from the United States, on sanctions and the so-called ‘hostile policy.’ ”
FILE – Commuters watch a TV showing file images of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Joe Biden during a news program at the Suseo Railway Station in Seoul, South Korea, March 26, 2021.
Patrick Cronin, the Asia-Pacific Security Chair at the Hudson Institute, said, “The impasse in diplomacy between North Korea and the United States is not the level of dialogue.”
Cronin added that Kim “would undoubtedly like President Biden to invite him to a summit where they would announce a reduction in hostilities and the removal of major sanctions. Because he knows that is unlikely to happen soon, he is happy to avoid meaningful diplomacy altogether.”
Responding to a VOA Korean Service inquiry on whether Washington should consider a new diplomatic push involving a high-level official to engage Pyongyang, the State Department continued to express its openness to meeting with North Korea without preconditions.
A State Department spokesperson on Thursday said, “We remain hopeful the DPRK will respond positively to our outreach.” The DPRK stands for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.
Journalist Jiha Ham contributed to this report, which originated with VOA’s Korean Service.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and his Japanese and South Korean counterparts were meeting Saturday in Hawaii to discuss the threat posed by nuclear-armed North Korea after Pyongyang began the year with a series of missile tests.
Blinken gathered in Honolulu with Japanese Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi and South Korean Foreign Minister Chung Eui-yong. Defense chiefs from the three countries last week said North Korea’s recent missile tests were destabilizing to regional security.
Some experts say North Korea is using the weapons tests to put pressure on President Joe Biden’s administration to resume long-stalled nuclear negotiations as the pandemic puts further strain on a North Korean economy battered by decades of mismanagement and crippling U.S.-led sanctions.
Biden’s administration has offered North Korea open-ended talks but has shown no willingness to ease the sanctions without meaningful cuts to the country’s nuclear program.
The tests also have a technical component, allowing North Korea to hone its weapons arsenal. One of the missiles recently tested — the Hwasong-12 intermediate-range ballistic missile — is capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam. It was the longest-distance weapon the North has tested since 2017.
North Korea appears to be pausing its tests during the Winter Olympics in China, its most important ally and economic lifeline. But analysts believe North Korea will dramatically increase its weapons testing after the Olympics.
The recent tests have rattled Pyongyang’s neighbors in South Korea and Japan. South Korean President Moon Jae-in, who helped set up the historic talks between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and former President Donald Trump in 2018 and 2019, said last month that the tests were a violation of U.N. Security Council resolutions and urged the North to cease “actions that create tensions and pressure.”
The Security Council initially imposed sanctions on North Korea after its first nuclear test in 2006. It made them tougher in response to further nuclear tests and the country’s increasingly sophisticated nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
China and Russia, citing the North’s economic difficulties, have called for lifting sanctions like those banning seafood exports and prohibitions on its citizens working overseas and sending home their earnings.
Blinken arrived in Hawaii from Fiji, where he met with Acting Prime Minister Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum and other Pacific leaders to talk about regional issues, especially the existential risk posed by climate change. It was the first visit by a U.S. secretary of state to Fiji since 1985.
He started his Pacific tour in Australia, where he met his counterparts from Australia, India and Japan. The four nations form the Quad, a bloc of Indo-Pacific democracies that was created to counter China’s regional influence.
Nine U.N. Security Council members condemned North Korea’s January 30 launch of an intermediate-range ballistic missile Friday, saying it was “a significant escalation” in Pyongyang’s recent violations of council resolutions and was intended to further destabilize the region.
“We condemn this unlawful action in the strongest terms,” U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told reporters after a 90-minute closed-door meeting of the 15-nation council. She spoke on behalf of and flanked by her council counterparts from Albania, Brazil, Britain, France, Ireland, Japan, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.
The launch, which took place on Sunday local time, was North Korea’s longest-range missile test in more than four years.
“It also marks a new and troubling record — the nine ballistic missiles launched in January is the largest number of launches the DPRK has conducted in a single month in the history of its WMD and ballistic missile programs,” Thomas-Greenfield said. DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
North Korea is forbidden to conduct such launches under the provisions of several Security Council resolutions.
The council last met on January 20 to discuss the launch activity without a united public stance.
FILE – U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks to reporters during a news conference at U.N. headquarters in New York, March 1, 2021.
“The cost of the council’s ongoing silence is too high,” the U.S. envoy said on behalf of the group of nine council members. “It will embolden the DPRK to further defy the international community, to normalize its violations of Security Council resolutions, to further destabilize the region, and to continue to threaten international peace and security. This is an outcome that we should not accept.”
China’s U.N. ambassador told reporters on his way into Friday’s meeting that the solution “lies in dialogue” among the direct parties to the issue.
He appeared to put the responsibility on Washington to coax North Korea to the negotiating table, saying it has the key to solving the situation in its hands.
“They should come up with more attractive and more practical, more flexible approaches, policies and actions, and in accommodating the concerns of DPRK,” Ambassador Zhang Jun said of the United States. “We have all seen what happened in Singapore. We have all seen what happened in Hanoi. And we have seen suspension of the nuclear test, and we have seen suspension of the launch of ICBMs [intercontinental ballistic missiles].”
Former U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un held two summits, one in Singapore in 2018 and another in Vietnam the following year. They did not lead to denuclearization, but tensions cooled between the two nations, with Kim pausing his country’s nuclear and long-range missile tests.
The Biden administration has urged Pyongyang to meet without preconditions.
“We stand ready to engage in dialogue, and we will not waver in our pursuit of regional peace and stability and the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula consistent with relevant Security Council resolutions,” Thomas-Greenfield reiterated Friday.
China’s envoy urged the parties and the council to be prudent in both their actions and their words to avoid a full escalation.
FILE – Zhang Jun, permanent representative of China to the United Nations, speaks during a meeting of the Security Council, Sept. 23, 2021, in New York.
“We have seen a vicious circle: confrontation, condemnation, sanctions, and then coming back to confrontation, condemnation and sanctions again,” Zhang said. “So what will be the end?”
He said China’s “freeze for freeze” proposal remains on the table. That would have Pyongyang freeze its nuclear activity in exchange for partial sanctions relief.
Thomas-Greenfield said that would reward North Korea for bad behavior.
Earlier this week, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Sunday’s ICBM launch.
“This is a breaking of the DPRK’s announced moratorium in 2018 on launches of this nature and a clear violation of Security Council resolutions,” Guterres’ spokesman said.
He urged Pyongyang to cease any “further counterproductive actions” and seek a diplomatic solution.
A fire on the West Clinic alarmed the community in that area of northern Cali and throughout the city.
Before the emergency in the traditional health institution, three machines with 12 firefighters were directed.
The clinic is located on Avenida 5 Norte and Calle 18, in the Versalles neighborhood.
(Also read: Musician attacked in Police CAI during strike in Cali left the country)
A high-altitude machine with two more firefighters, two ambulances with four paramedics and a logistics vehicle with a volunteer from the relief agency also arrived at the site.
According to Sergeant Luis Jordán, coordinator of the Northern Division of the Cali Fire Department, the emergency It was recorded on Thursday afternoon.
(Also: The bitter adventure of Juan Montoya and his sister on a boat to Florida)
“A lot of smoke was found. There was damage to a compressor, but in this room there is no direct connection to the clinic,” Sergeant Jordan said.
Therefore, there was no need to evacuate the patients.
(Also read: The Buga massacre: questions and the investigation, one year later)
There were no injured or fatal victims.
A person, in charge of maintenance at the clinic, was affected by smoke inhalation.
According to the Fire Department, the clinic staff had already carried out a control with ventilation actions and thus the situation was prevented from worsening.
The clinic continued to work, because it has backup emergency systems, Sergeant Jordán reported.
North Korea this week resumed railway imports from China for the first time since its lockdown began in 2020, potentially signaling a new phase in its approach to the pandemic.
Since Sunday, North Korean freight trains have made several round trips across the Yalu River separating the North Korean city of Sinuiju and the Chinese city of Dandong.
That is a significant relaxation of COVID-19 measures for North Korea, which has taken perhaps the world’s most severe pandemic precautions.
However, there are more questions than answers about what the move says about North Korea’s future pandemic approach and when it will attempt to fully resume trade with China, its economic lifeline.
Why did North Korea resume trade now?
It is possible the decision was driven by desperation spurred by shortages of food or other supplies. There could also be far duller explanations, though, said Peter Ward, a Seoul-based specialist on North Korea’s economy.
“There are loads of reasons why you’d want to reopen it. And those reasons may not be, ‘Well, there’s going to be a revolution next week unless people in north Pyongyang get their food rations,’” he said.
North Korea, Ward suggested, might be increasing entry options for imports from China, which was already sending some goods to North Korea by ship. It is also possible a well-connected official in Sinuiju, which relies on trade with China and has suffered economically during the pandemic, may have lobbied North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to restart the railway imports.
Or it could be that North Korea is now confident enough in its import safety measures, following months of preparation.
What goods are North Korea importing so far?
During the pandemic, North Korea has experienced shortages of food, medicine, fertilizer, and construction supplies. Some of those items appeared to be included in the first shipments from China, according to video broadcast by several Japanese and South Korean media outlets.
“But I think there is a strong chance Kim Jong Un also used the deliveries to Pyongyang to stock up on the gifts he intends to dole out for upcoming celebrations in order to maintain loyalty to the Kim family,” Jean Lee, a senior fellow at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based research organization, said.
On Thursday, a state media readout of a high-profile Politburo meeting mentioned that North Korea should prepare to “grandly” celebrate the coming birthdays of late leaders Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il, which are major public holidays.
FILE – Citizens visit the bronze statues of their late leaders Kim Il Sung, left, and Kim Jong Il on Mansu Hill in Pyongyang, North Korea Thursday, Dec. 16, 2021, on the occasion of 10th anniversary of demise of Kim Jong Il.
The Daily NK, a Seoul-based publication with a network of sources in North Korea, reported this week at least some of the initial shipments included soybean oil, a cooking staple, which will be distributed as gifts on the holidays, known as the Day of the Sun and the Day of the Shining Star.
“Everything right now is focused on preparations to glorify the Kim family — not necessarily on the well-being of the North Korean people,” Lee said.
What safety precautions is North Korea taking with the import process?
A lot. In fact, North Korea appears to be so cautious that it may not even be allowing any North Koreans to enter China to facilitate the shipments. Video of the transfers appears to show a Chinese locomotive dropping off train cars full of goods to North Korea, before bringing empty cars back to China to reload.
Once in North Korea, the cargo appears to enter a disinfection facility recently constructed at an airport near the border, according to commercial satellite photos reported by NK News, a Seoul-based outlet that covers North Korea. At the facility, the goods will likely be sterilized and quarantined, possibly for weeks, analysts say.
Many scientific studies conclude it is very difficult for people to be infected with COVID-19 through contact with contaminated surfaces or objects. However, North Korea is taking no chances, Colin Zwirko, senior NK News correspondent, said.
FILE – People wearing protective face masks walk amid concerns over the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in front of Pyongyang Station in Pyongyang, North Korea April 27, 2020, in this photo released by Kyodo.
“North Korea maintains the most severe ‘zero-COVID’ policy in the world because an outbreak could lead to the collapse of the entire system, they admit this in state media. This means they are willing to prevent infections at all costs, even if it requires quarantining objects for long periods that might stand little chance of transmitting the virus. It’s a better-safe-than-sorry approach,” Zwirko says.
In the past, North Korean officials have embraced numerous scientifically questionable theories about how COVID-19 spreads. The virus, state media have reported, could spread through migratory birds, snow, air pollution, or anti-Pyongyang propaganda leaflets sent by South Korean activists.
How much trade will North Korea allow?
So far, Japanese and South Korean media have reported at least three roundtrips by freight trains from Sunday through Wednesday. South Korean officials said Thursday they have “steadily detected” train activity, but they could not say how long the train service will continue.
On Monday, China’s Foreign Affairs Ministry confirmed that rail traffic between North Korea and China had “resumed operation,” suggesting the activity could become regular. It is not clear, however, how quickly the quarantine and disinfection facilities will fill up. Some analysts speculate that that process could be a choke point limiting a wider resumption in trade.
So far, it appears that the trains have only sent goods in one direction, to North Korea, but Daily NK reported Thursday that some North Korean trading companies have begun preparing items for export to China, following an order from authorities.
Both sides have a long way to go to restore pre-pandemic trade levels. According to Chinese government data released this week, China’s trade with North Korea in 2021 fell about 90% compared to 2019, the year before the pandemic restrictions began.
How will North Korea handle the pandemic moving forward?
While many analysts think North Korea’s trade with China will gradually increase this year, others warn there could be setbacks, especially as China calibrates its own “zero-COVID” policy and struggles to keep out the more transmissible omicron variant.
FILE – Staff of the Pyongyang Department Store No. 1 disinfect the store to help curb the spread of the coronavirus before it opens in Pyongyang, North Korea, Dec. 28, 2020.
It is also not clear whether North Korea will loosen other pandemic restrictions, such as its domestic travel restrictions and border security policies. Since the pandemic began, North Korea has dramatically increased patrols along its border with China, reportedly even issuing shoot-to-kill orders for illegal crossers. The measures have led to a drastic reduction in the number of North Korean escapees and cut off virtually all informal trade, such as smuggling and remittance payments.
Pyongyang may not feel comfortable easing many of those restrictions until it has tools, beyond lockdowns, to combat the virus.
North Korea has refused offers of COVID-19 vaccines from other countries and the United Nations-backed COVAX vaccine distribution initiative. According to the World Health Organization, it is one of only two countries yet to begin vaccination campaigns, the other being Eritrea.
