Communiqué from two Member States
Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL)
52nd Anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco and
This is the year the Agência commemorates 50 years of operation
February 14, 2019
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The 33 Member States of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL):
1. We celebrate this day the 52nd Anniversary of the adoption of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean – Treaty of Tlatelolco.
2. We also note that, in 2019, OPANAL completes 50 years of continuous work, ensuring the full implementation of the Treaty of Tlatelolco and affirming itself as the only regional intergovernmental organization that contributes effectively to nuclear disarmament and to no proliferation of nuclear weapons.
3. Remember that, for more than five decades, the Treaty of Tlatelolco, counting as the permanent work of OPANAL, has guaranteed that Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the vast spaces adjacent to its territories, remain free of nuclear weapons, without prejudice to the exercise of the inalienable right to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. This Treaty is respected by six States Parties to the Additional Protocols to the Treaty of Tlatelolco: the United States, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, China and the Netherlands.
4. Highlights that the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which created the first Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in a densely populated area, served as inspiration for other four regions of the world. We also consider that the OPANAL Treaty constitutes an important heritage of the international community and, in turn, a political, legal and institutional reference for the creation of other nuclear weapons-free zones, through arrangements freely agreed between the States of the region concerned.
5. Emphasize that the militarily denuclearized zones do not constitute a goal in themselves, but represent an intermediary step of great relevance to advance towards nuclear disarmament and general and complete disarmament under effective international control.
6. Reiterate its conviction that the establishment of militarily denuclearized zones is closely linked to the maintenance of peace and security in the respective regions and that the military denuclearization of vast geographical areas, adopted by a sovereign decision taken exclusively by the States located in them, It has exerted beneficial influence in other regions.
7. Sublinham that Nuclear Weapon Free Zones promote peace and regional and international stability, and prohibit the possession, acquisition, development, testing, manufacturing, production, armament, or discovery and use of nuclear weapons.
8. Highlights the importance of promoting cooperation with the Parties and Signatories of the Treaties that establish Nuclear Weapons Free Zones in the South Pacific, Southeast Asia, Africa, Central Asia and also in Mongolia whose nuclear weapons free status is reconfirmed. United Nations pelas.
9. We affirm our commitment to contribute to the success of the Fourth Conference on Nuclear Weapons Free Zones in Mongolia, in 2020, convened by Resolution 73/71 of the General Assembly of the United Nations, on December 5, 2018, in this sense. , we urge all Parties and Signatories of the Treaties establishing Nuclear Weapons Free Zones to actively participate in the preparation of the Fourth Conference, supporting Mongolia, the State designated as coordinator of the Fourth Conference.
10. We affirm that the unequivocal and legally binding guarantees to the States that make up Nuclear Weapons Free Zones against the use and threat of use of nuclear weapons are a fundamental element for the regime of non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and constitute a legitimate interest of the international community . In this sense, we urge the nuclear-armed States that issue interpretative declarations to the Additional Protocols I and II to the Treaty of Tlatelolco contrary to the letter and spirit of the Treaty to examine them jointly with OPANAL, with the objective of reviewing or eliminating them. in order to provide full and unequivocal security guarantees to the States that make up the Nuclear Weapons Free Zone in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as to respect the militarily denuclearized character of the region.
11. We remember your participation in the adoption of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, which prohibits the possession, development, production, acquisition, testing, armament, transfer, use or threat of use of nuclear weapons or other nuclear explosive devices.
12. We consider that the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, as well as the Treaty for the Complete Prohibition of Nuclear Tests (CTBT), will soon enter into force of both instruments, adding to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons In Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) and the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) towards the elimination of these weapons of mass destruction.
13. Assinalam that these four Treaties establish legal norms of International Law that bind the States that will assinamate and ratify them. These instruments are not simple declarations of intent and cannot produce the automatic disappearance of nuclear weapons; Still, they constitute an adequate legal basis for the process of elimination of nuclear weapons and to prevent their return to existence.
14. We reiterate our commitment to participate constructively in the III Preparatory Committee of the Conference of Parties of 2020 in charge of the Review of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, which will meet from April 29 to May 10, 2019, in New York .
15. Highlights its concern regarding the international situation which, among other aspects, is characterized by the persistence of nuclear weapons modernization programs, the possible creation of new types of nuclear weapons vectors and the growing threat of the use of nuclear weapons in the context of tensions and armed conflicts and threats of terrorism. This occurs in the context in which there are still states with nuclear weapons, many of them in a state of alert.
16. Reiterate the commitment of the States of the region, referred to in the Proclamation of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Zone of Peace, to continue promoting nuclear disarmament as a priority objective and contribute as general and complete disarmament to promote the strengthening of trust between nations .
17. We demand that nuclear weapons not be used again by a non-human actor, under any circumstances, or that they can only be ensured by the prohibition and subsequent transparent, verifiable and irreversible elimination of all nuclear weapons.