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Home , OPANAL, Treaty of Tlatelolco

REGIONAL REPORTS

Latin America's : Instrument for peace and development

Updated in the 1990s, the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in sets up a militarily denuclearized zone

Mlore than 30 years ago, in October 1962, the to a decision to intervene in a war, would never- by Enrique world witnessed one of the most serious confron- theless become involved in one. In Latin Amer- Roman-Morey tations to have occurred between two nuclear ica, people knew they would face a catastrophic powers — the "Missile Crisis". At the time, scenario only in the event of a world conflict. Latin America viewed the incident from various The total interdependence in which we live and, angles: it saw international peace and security as above all, the explosive and radiative power of basic necessities, and its own unwillingness to be the atom when used to destroy show clearly that party to military conflicts between the major we are not immune to what surrounds us. powers. At the same time, it saw the importance Traditionally, Latin America has been an in- of not being prevented from mastering nuclear exhaustible source of ideas and actions, and in- technology for peaceful purposes and from ap- ternational law has not escaped the effects of the plying it to promote the economic development fertile Latin American imagination. Latin of its peoples. Americans did not invent the wheel, but some All this was uppermost in the minds of those general principles of international law that today who subsequently became responsible for nego- serve as a basis for the peaceful co-existence of tiating the text of an historic document: the nations have Latin American parentage. Simi- Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in larly, in the field of non-proliferation, the region Latin America, now usually called the of Latin America and the was the first "Tlatelolco Treaty" in recognition of the Mexi- to make its voice heard, and it proclaimed its can site in which it was opened for signature. views loudly. After Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Thirty years ago, the Cold War in a bipolar one thing crucial to the question of non-prolifera- world was the frame of reference. The parame- tion was absolutely clear — the undeniable supe- ters then were a devastating world war that, for riority of nuclear over conventional weapons. the first time, had brought home the horrors in- herent in the military use of nuclear energy and the incipient awareness worldwide of the bene- The Treaty's origins and key elements fits to be derived from the use of atoms for peace. Latin America was convinced that, faced with It took more than 4 years of constant effort the permanent threat of nuclear confrontation and difficult negotiations to formulate in a legal between the nuclear superpowers, it must present document the obligations of the contracting par- to the world a legal instrument. Although novel ties within the Latin American region and that of for its time, that instrument would be permanent the nuclear powers to respect the region's desired in spirit and would demonstrate that alongside military denuclearized status. On 14 February national interests there existed interests of the 1967, the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear international community. These interests Weapons in Latin America was opened for sig- touched, most particularly, those of the world's nature at Tlatelolco, . populated regions which, without being parties Initially, only 18 countries of the region signed it. Since then, 28 years have passed, and the process of consolidating the military denu- Mr. Roman-Morey is Ambassador and Secretary General of clearization regime and its control system in OPANAL, the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weap- Latin America and the Caribbean is almost com- ons in Latin America and the Caribbean, and a career Diplo- mat of the Foreign Service of . OPANAL's address is plete. This has involved the joint efforts of the (Temfstocles 78) Col. Polanco, , Mexico 11560. three main organs constituting the Agency for

IAEA BULLETIN, 1/1995' 33 REGIONAL REPORTS

the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin clear material and facilities under their jurisdic- America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) — tion" (Article 1); and — finally and most impor- namely the General Conference, the Council, tantly— the enshrinement in the Treaty of the and the General Secretariat — and of the Good general principle of international law that mili- Offices Committee. The Committee is a spe- tarily denuclearized zones are not an end in cially created subsidiary body formed by Costa themselves, but rather a means of achieving gen- Rica, , Peru, and and chaired eral and complete disarmament (Preamble). by Mexico (the Mexican Government being the With these elements, the Tlatelolco Treaty Depositary Government of the Treaty). It has stands in full agreement with the purposes and made an effective contribution to the consolida- principles set forth in the Charter of the United tion of the Treaty's zone of application. Nations. The Treaty further recognizes and pin- The drafters of the Tlatelolco Treaty molded points a general principle of international law, a conceptually rich international instrument. makes it incontestable and applicable, regulates During the almost three decades that it has been it and controls it in such a way as to permit its in force, the Treaty has served as an example for updating and adaptation in the light of new cir- the international community. Now, in the mo- cumstances in the world, ensuring that it is re- mentous times of flux in which we are living, spected in a major inhabited part of the planet. Latin America and the Caribbean is more and The Treaty's letter and spirit may serve as an more insistently urging the international commu- example to other populated regions. In this re- nity to focus on non-proliferation with the ulti- spect, Latin America and the Caribbean wel- mate goal of complete disarmament, peace and comes the efforts being made by peoples and development for all. governments in other regions to establish militar- The end of the Cold War and bipolarism ily denuclearized zones. demands new concepts of security and develop- Within this general framework and changing ment. A number of factors are working to times, steps were taken in the 1990s to update the strengthen multilateral co-operation on a day-to- Tlatelolco Treaty. The Contracting Parties ap- day basis. These factors include changes in the proved a series of amendments which today thinking of the nuclear powers, the resurgence of make it easier for countries in the region to ac- densely populated regions interested in their own cede fully to the Treaty. Thus: economic and social development rather than in • On 3 July 1990, during the 7th extraordinary armaments, and the unmistakable winds of uni- session of OPANAL's General Conference, it versal democracy. A new concept — the eco- was decided that the words " and the Carib- nomic and social development of nations — bean" should be added to the official title of must replace the traditional ideology-based con- the Treaty so that it would cover all the States cept of security and the consequent arms race. of the Caribbean lying within its zone of For Latin America and the Caribbean, there are application. other priorities in daily life, such as combating • On 10 May 1991, during the 13th session of extreme poverty, supporting health and educa- OPANAL's General Conference, the zone of tion programmes, and developing basic indus- application was updated through a recasting tries such as agriculture and mining, which are of the old Article 25, use being made of the foundations of development. The region is wording similar to that of Article 8 of the becoming aware that those priorities call for the amended Charter of the Organization of extensive peaceful utilization of the most power- American States (OAS), so that all inde- ful form of energy — nuclear energy. pendent States in the region could join the Some elements make the Tlatelolco Treaty a military denuclearization regime. This impor- unique legal instrument. They include the tant amendment made it possible for Carib-. Treaty's indefinite duration (Article 31); the fact bean States such as and to •that it can be amended at any time and thus accede to the Treaty. adapted in the light of recent developments (Ar- • On 26 August 1992, during its 8th extraordi- ticle 30); the provision that it " shall not be sub- nary session, OPANAL's General Confer- ject to reservations" (Article 28); the full protec- ence approved amendments to Articles 14, tion of the Treaty's zone of application through 15, 16, 19, and 20 relating to the verification negative security assurances, with the nuclear and control system established by the Treaty. powers and other States situated outside the The purpose of these amendments was to Latin American continent undertaking to recog- strengthen the verification system— it being nize and respect it (Additional Protocols I and recognized that the International Atomic En- II); the definition of "" (Article ergy Agency (IAEA) was the only organiza- 5); the commitment of the Contracting Parties to ' tion capable of carrying out special inspec- "use exclusively for peaceful purposes the nu- tions requested by parties to the Treaty—

34 IAEA BULLETIN, 1/1995 REGIONAL REPORTS

while upholding the principle that the organs and developing countries. It therefore welcomed of OP ANAL would continue to be responsi- the establishment, by the IAEA, of a Regional ble for monitoring the application of the Co-operative Arrangement for the Promotion of Treaty's control system. It should be empha- Nuclear Science and Technology in Latin Amer- sized that, although the approved amend- ica and the Caribbean (known as ARCAL) and ments modify the verification system, none of has indicated through various resolutions of its the modifications alters the fundamental prin- General Conference its interest in being repre- ciples or the essence of the Tlatelolco Treaty. sented at ARCAL meetings as an observer. Since then, following an agreement in September 1994 by ARCAL countries at a meeting in Vienna, Recent accessions and status OP ANAL has been able to participate as an observer. These important amendments made it possi- With the universalization of the Treaty's ble for States in the region with significant nu- zone of application and its consolidation at the clear activities to become full members of the regional level, OP ANAL must expand its activi- Tlatelolco system. Thus, during 1994, ties. This will inevitably also involve a decision and became members on 18 January, Bra- by OP ANAL's Member States to modernize the zil on 30 May and Belize on 9 November. Guy- General Secretariat — something which should ana signed and ratified the Treaty on 18 January undoubtedly be done soon. Its links with the 1995. Most of the Member States have signed the IAEA will help OP ANAL to carry out its tasks in amendments and are engaged in an accelerated accordance with the undertaking of the Contract- process of ratification in accordance with their ing Parties — expressed in Article 1 of the various national legislative requirements. Ac- Tlatelolco Treaty — "to use exclusively for cording to the Government of Mexico, the De- peaceful purposes the nuclear material and facili- positary Government, the amendments are in ties which are under their jurisdiction". From the force for those States which have signed and time that OP ANAL was established — in fact, ratified them and which have formulated the even before the Tlatelolco Treaty came into ex- waiver referred to in paragraph 2 of Article 29 of istence — the Latin American region has been the Treaty. receiving invaluable assistance from the IAEA. As of February 1995, the status of the It is hoped that such assistance will continue — not in order to duplicate efforts but in order to Researchers in Tlatelolco Treaty was as follows: and other Latin • Of the 33 States making up the regional group combine them in the interests of development. American countries are of Latin America and the Caribbean, only one The programmes implemented during the using nuclear techniques for studies in has not signed the Tlatelolco Treaty. has first ARCAL stage have included projects on the areas of medicine, officially stated its intention to accede to the development of nuclear science and technology, agriculture, and other Treaty and to become a full member of the the utilization of research reactors, the improve- fields. Tlatelolco system in the near future. • Of the 32 signatory States, only three have not yet completed the ratification process (Guy- ana, , and ). • Altogether 29 States of the region are full members of the Tlatelolco system. • In addition, all the objectives and provisions of the Tlatelolco Treaty are fully respected by the , the Russian Federation, , the , , and the , all of which have signed and ratified Additional Protocols I and II.

Peaceful uses of nuclear energy

Although OP ANAL's primary task has been to consolidate the militarily denuclearized zone, it has never forgotten that its major future task is to promote access to nuclear technology for ex- clusively peaceful purposes by establishing co- operation programmes and thereby to prevent a further widening of the gap between developed

IAEA BULLETIN, 1/1995 35 REGIONAL REPORTS

Facts About the Tlatelolco Treaty Date opened for signature: 14

Number of States in Latin American and Caribbean region: 33

States Party to the Treaty (29).

Antigua and Barbuda; Argentina; Bahamas; ; Belize; ; Brazil; Chile; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; Jamaica; Mexico; ; ; ; Peru; St. Vincent and the Grenadines; ; ; ; Venezuela

States that have signed but not yet fully ratified the Treaty ffl.- Guyana, St. Kitts and Nevis; St. Lucia y States that have said they will sign the Treaty (1):

Cuba

Depositary Government: Mexico Note: The continental part of the United States and its Responsible Organization: Agency for the Prohibition of territorial waters are explicity excluded from the Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean Treaty's zone of application. (OPANAL) in Mexico City.

ment of cereals through mutation breeding, the and countries that are less developed, so that the radioimmunoassay of thyroid hormones, nuclear 21st century does not find us in the midst of an information, and other projects with a high scien- apocalypse of destitution, disease, and hunger on tific and social value for our region. Planned one hand and opulence and full economic and projects include those on radiation protection, social development on the other. immunoassay in animal production and health, The historic effort of Latin America and the applications of isotope techniques in hydrology, Caribbean to achieve full implementation of the the production and control of radiopharmaceuti- Tlatelolco Treaty should serve as an example to cals, industrial applications of nuclear technol- other densely populated regions with a growing ogy, the maintenance of nuclear instrumentation, interest in attaining similar goals. The day-to-day the control of radiation sources, mutation induction activities of the IAEA — the leading world or- in relation to other biotechnologies for the im- ganization in the nuclear field — and the interna- provement of crops in Latin America, and the im- tional community's efforts directed towards the provement of plant nutrition and of soil and water conclusion of nuclear non-proliferation and dis- resources management using nuclear and other armament agreements will help create a world of techniques. These projects will undoubtedly make maximum social and economic development in an important contribution to the development of an environment of peace leading to general and agriculture, medicine, and industry in Latin Amer- complete disarmament. ica and the Caribbean. It is to be hoped that, al- It is our firm conviction that the greatest form though each ARCAL country participates only in of energy known to humanity — nuclear energy the project or projects of particular interest to it, — should be used exclusively for peaceful pur- most will participate in the majority of projects. poses. There should be a total prohibition world- The ideal that nuclear energy should not be wide of its use for military purposes. In other the privilege of just a few States will be actively words, let us denuclearize war and nuclearize pursued through the main and subsidiary organs peace! We are a few months away from the 50th created by the Tlatelolco Treaty. For this reason, anniversary of the first and, fortunately, only OPANAL believes in the need to build more nuclear holocaust. The best present that human- bridges between countries that are highly devel- ity could give itself would be a total and perpet- oped as regards nuclear science and technology ual ban on nuclear weapons. •

36 IAEA BULLETIN, U1995