Mexico City, September 30, 2021. On September 30, 2021, the XXVII Session of the General Conference of the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) was held, with the participation of more than 90 delegates from the States. Members; representatives of the Nuclear Weapon Free Zones established by the South Pacific Nuclear Weapon Free Zone Treaty (Treaty of Rarotonga), the Treaty on the Establishment of a Nuclear Weapon Free Zone in South-East Asia (Treaty of Bangkok), the Treaty on a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in Africa (Treaty of Pelindaba) and the Treaty on a Nuclear Weapon-Free Zone in Central Asia (Treaty of Semipalatinsk); and other international entities and organizations, such as the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC), the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO), the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA).

The XXVII Session of the General Conference was held for the first time in a remote connection format, taking into account the circumstances generated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with the technical support of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico.

It was chaired by Ambassador Carlos Alfonso Tomada, Head of the Delegation of the Argentine Republic, with the support of Ambassador Mario Búcaro, Head of the Delegation of the Republic of Guatemala, and Mr. Manuel Flores Troche, Head of the Nuclear Disarmament Directorate of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Mexico as Vice Presidents and Ambassador Aníbal Cabral, Head of the Delegation of the Eastern Republic of Uruguay, in his capacity as President of the Council in turn.

During the XXVII Session of the General Conference of OPANAL, the States Parties to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco) approved seventeen resolutions, among whose topics the following stand out:

– the re-election, by acclamation, of Ambassador Flávio Roberto Bonzanini as Secretary General for a second term from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025;

– the request of the States Parties to the Treaty of Tlatelolco that the militarily denuclearized character of Latin America and the Caribbean be respected and that the States possessing nuclear weapons withdraw the interpretative declarations of Protocols I and II of the Treaty of Tlatelolco incompatible with the objective and purpose of the Treaty;

– the election of the Federative Republic of Brazil and the Republic of Guatemala as Members of the OPANAL Council for the period from January 1, 2022 to December 31, 2025;

– strengthening cooperation with other Nuclear Weapon Free Zones through the upcoming signing of a Memorandum of Understanding with the African Commission on Nuclear Energy (AFCONE);

– the approval of the budget and the scale of contributions for the 2022 financial year.

Likewise, for the first time, the XXVII Session of the General Conference included as part of the topics examined the relationship between gender, non-proliferation and disarmament, adopting a resolution in this regard, recognizing the valuable contribution of women in the region in promoting disarmament, non-proliferation and arms control and incorporating a gender perspective to support and reinforce the effective participation of women in OPANAL, its bodies and programs.

The General Conference is the supreme body of OPANAL and is therefore the body that makes the most important decisions for the Agency. It is made up of all the Contracting Parties to the Treaty of Tlatelolco, the 33 States of Latin America and the Caribbean and holds ordinary sessions every two years and may also hold extraordinary sessions whenever so provided by the Treaty of Tlatelolco, or when circumstances so require in the opinion of the Council.