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| Fig. 1: The five Nuclear Weapon States (NWS) named in the treaty are the United States, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdon, France, and China. India, North Korea and Pakistan are states with nuclear weapons not named in the as NWS in the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) [5] (Source: Wikimedia Commons) |
Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean commonly referred to the Treaty of Tlatelolco established a nuclear-free zone throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. In 1958, the Costa Rican Ambassador to the United States, G. Facio, worked to establish a special disarmament commission within the Organization of American States to consider nuclear disarmament among Latin American Nations. [1] These debates were expedited during the Cuban Missile Crisis as countries in the region noted the importance of protecting themselves against nuclear conflict with foreign powers. [2] A number of disarmament plans were proposed and negotiated before the Treaty of Tlatelolco was created and adopted. [1]
This treaty was signed in Tlatelolco, Mexico City in 1967 and was entered into force two years later on April 22nd, 1969. Cuba was the last country to ratify the Treaty on On October 23rd, 2002. The treaty is now signed and ratified by all 33 nations of Latin America and the Caribbean. [3]
Although most countries in the region did not have active nuclear weapons programs. Brazil voluntarily abandoned its secret military program which included active missile development programs. [3] Argentina also permanently suspended its nuclear program which was advanced enough "to build nuclear weapons in three years or less". [4]
The treaty is designed to guarantee the total prohibition of nuclear weapons in the region. All signatories to the treaty make an agreement to prevent and prohibit "testing, use, manufacture, production or acquisition by any means whatsoever of any nuclear weapons." [3]
The Treaty included methods to verify compliance by The Organisation for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America (OPANAL). [1] These methods included reports by nation states and inspections of devices, facilities, and services that are in use peaceful nuclear energy activities such as nuclear energy powerplants.
The Treaty also has 2 additional protocols. Protocol one includes foreign countries with territories in Latin America and the Caribbean in the treaty. These states, namely the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and the Netherlands must obey the terms of the treaty. Protocol II prevents nuclear-weapon states from "undermining" the nuclear-free status of the region through the sale to or manufacturing for of nuclear weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. [3] All five Nuclear Weapon States (shown in blue in Fig. 1) signed and ratified protocol II.
Latin America was the first region to create a nuclear-weapon-free zone over an area that includes a group of states. It was the second geographic region, after Antartica nuclear weapon free zone in 1961. [3] The Treaty is applauded for robust control and verification methods but has been critiqued for allowing the development and use of nuclear explosive for peaceful purposes
© Isi Umunna. The author warrants that the work is the author's own and that Stanford University provided no input other than typesetting and referencing guidelines. The author grants permission to copy, distribute and display this work in unaltered form, with attribution to the author, for noncommercial purposes only. All other rights, including commercial rights, are reserved to the author.
[1] M. Serrano, "Common Security in Latin America, The 1967 Treaty of Tlatelolco," University of London. 1992.
[2] C. Ta, "The Treaty of Tlateloco," Physics 241, Stanford University (Winter 2016)
[3] K. Berry, "Latin America: Nuclear Facts and Figures," International Commission on Nuclear Non-Proliferation and Disarmament, April 2009.
[4] E. Schumacher, "Hemispheric Pressure on Argentina to Ban the Bomb," New York Times, 5 Apr 84.
[5] "Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean - Treaty of Tlatelolco," Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, S/Inf. 652 Rev.3, January 2002.
