From May 13 to 17, 2019, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Guatemala hosted the Third Edition of the OPANAL Course on Disarmament and Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
This edition of the course was inaugurated by the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Luis Carranza. The Secretary General of OPANAL, Ambassador Luiz Filipe de Macedo Soares, sent a video message to the participants of the event, in which he made a historical analysis of the main challenges facing the international community in matters of disarmament and non-proliferation. He also thanked the organizers for hosting the course and the President of Pugwash and former United Nations High Representative for Disarmament Affairs, Ambassador Sergio De Queiroz Duarte, who participated as the main instructor.
31 officials from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs participated in the course; Ministry of National Defense; Ministry of Energy and Mines; Civil national police; the Executive Secretary of the National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction; the Technical Secretariat of the National Security Council; and the General Directorate of Arms and Ammunition Control.
The OPANAL Course organized in Guatemala City is part of the Organization's efforts to disseminate to the general public the terrible danger represented by the mere existence of nuclear weapons and that they are an obstacle to the democratization of international relations. . Likewise, this is one of the activities that OPANAL carries out annually regarding “Education for disarmament and non-proliferation.”
The closing of the Course included the participation of the Hon. Ambassador Sandra Jovel Polanco, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Guatemala, who also recognized Ambassador Sergio de Queiroz Duarte for his participation as an instructor, as well as for his career in favor of nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation.
