Agency For Prohib. Of Nuclear Arms In Latin Am. (amended 2018)

In the name of their peoples and faithfully interpreting their yearnings and aspirations, the Governments of the States signatories of the Treaty for the Proscription of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean,

Desirous of contributing, to the extent of their possibilities, to put an end to the arms race, especially the nuclear one, and to the consolidation of a world in peace, founded on the sovereign equality of the States, mutual respect, and good neighborliness;

Recalling that the General Assembly of the United Nations, in its Resolution 808 (IX), unanimously approved, as one of the three points of a coordinated disarmament program, “the total prohibition of the use and manufacture of nuclear weapons and of all types of weapons of mass destruction”;

Recalling that the militarily denuclearized zones do not constitute an end in themselves, but a means to reach at a later stage the general and complete disarmament;

Recalling Resolution 1911 (XVIII) of the General Assembly of the United Nations, by which it was established that the measures that may be agreed for the denuclearization of Latin America and the Caribbean must be taken “in the light of the principles of the Charter of the United Nations and of the regional agreements”;

Recalling Resolution 2028 (XX) of the General Assembly of the United Nations which establishes the principle of an acceptable balance of mutual responsibilities and obligations for the nuclear and the non-nuclear powers; and

Recalling that the Charter of the Organization of American States establishes as essential purpose of the Organization to strengthen the peace and security of the hemisphere;

Persuaded that:

The incalculable destructive power of nuclear weapons has made imperative that the legal proscription of war be strictly observed in practice, if the survival of civilization and of humanity itself is to be assured;

The nuclear weapons, whose terrible effects reach indiscriminately and inescapably both the military forces and the civilian population, constitute, by the persistence of the radioactivity that they generate, an assault on the integrity of the human species and even may finally render the whole Earth uninhabitable;

The general and complete disarmament under effective international control is a vital question that all the peoples of the world equally claim;

The proliferation of nuclear weapons, which seems inevitable unless the States, in exercise of their sovereign rights, self-limit themselves to prevent it, would enormously hinder every disarmament agreement and would increase the danger that a nuclear conflagration may come to be produced;

The establishment of militarily denuclearized zones is intimately linked to the maintenance of peace and security in the respective regions;

The military denuclearization of vast geographic zones, adopted by the sovereign decision of the States therein comprised, will have to exert beneficial influence in favor of other regions where analogous conditions exist;

The privileged situation of the signatory States, whose territories are found totally free of nuclear weapons, imposes on them the inescapable duty to preserve such situation, both for their own benefit and for the good of humanity;

The existence of nuclear weapons in any country of Latin America and the Caribbean would turn it into target of possible nuclear attacks and would fatally provoke in the whole region a ruinous nuclear arms race, which would imply the unjustifiable deviation toward warlike ends of the limited resources necessary for the economic and social development;

The reasons set forth and the traditional pacifist vocation of Latin America and the Caribbean determine the inescapable necessity that nuclear energy be used in this region exclusively for peaceful purposes, and that the Latin American and Caribbean countries use their right to the maximum and most equitable possible access to this new source of energy to accelerate the economic and social development of their peoples;

Convinced, in conclusion, that:

The military denuclearization of Latin America and the Caribbean – understanding by such the internationally contracted commitment in the present Treaty to keep their territories forever free of nuclear weapons – will constitute a measure that avoids for their peoples the waste, in nuclear armament, of their limited resources and that protects them against possible nuclear attacks to their territories; a significant contribution to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons; and a valuable element in favor of general and complete disarmament; and that

Latin America and the Caribbean, faithful to its universalist tradition, not only must strive to proscribe from it the scourge of a nuclear war, but also commit itself in the struggle for the welfare and progress of its peoples, cooperating at the same time to the realization of the ideals of humanity, that is to say to the consolidation of a permanent peace founded on the equality of rights, the economic equity, and the social justice for all, in accordance with the Principles and Purposes consecrated in the Charter of the United Nations and in the Charter of the Organization of American States.

They have agreed the following:

For the purposes of the present Treaty, Contracting Parties are those for which the Treaty is in force.

For all the effects of the present Treaty, it must be understood that the term “territory” includes the territorial sea, the air space, and any other scope over which the State exercises sovereignty, in accordance with its own legislation.

For the effects of the present Treaty, by “nuclear weapon” is understood every device that may be capable of releasing nuclear energy in uncontrolled form and that has a set of characteristics proper to employment for warlike purposes. The instrument that may be used for the transport or the propulsion of the device is not included in this definition if it is separable from the device and not an indivisible part of it.

At the request of any of the signatory States, or by decision of the Organism that is established in article 7, a meeting of all the Signatories may be convened to consider in common questions that may affect the very essence of this instrument, including its possible modification. In both cases the convocation will be made through the Secretary General.

Each Contracting Party will negotiate agreements – multilateral or bilateral – with the International Atomic Energy Agency for the application of its Safeguards to their nuclear activities. Each Contracting Party must initiate the negotiations within a term of one hundred eighty days after the date of the deposit of its respective instrument of ratification of the present Treaty. These agreements must enter into force, for each of the Parties, at the latest eighteen months from the date of initiation of said negotiations, except in case of fortuitous event or force majeure.

None of the provisions contained in the present Treaty undermines the rights of the Contracting Parties to use, in conformity with this instrument, nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, particularly in their economic development and social progress.

The Organism may conclude with the International Atomic Energy Agency the agreements that the General Conference authorizes and that it may consider appropriate to facilitate the effective functioning of the Control System established in the present Treaty.

None of the stipulations of the present Treaty will be interpreted in the sense of undermining the rights and obligations of the Parties, in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations, nor, in the case of the Member States of the Organization of American States, in accordance with the existing regional Treaties.

Once the present Treaty has entered into force, every international agreement that any of the Contracting Parties may conclude, on the matters to which the same refers, will be notified immediately to the Secretariat, so that the latter may register it and notify the other Contracting Parties.

Unless the interested Parties agree on some other means of peaceful settlement, any question or controversy on the interpretation or application of the present Treaty, that has not been settled, may be submitted to the International Court of Justice, prior consent of the Parties in the controversy.

The present Treaty may not be the object of reservations.

The present Treaty, whose texts in the Spanish, Chinese, French, English, Portuguese, and Russian languages are equally authentic, will be registered by the Depositary Government in conformity with article 102 of the Charter of the United Nations. The Depositary Government will notify the Secretary-General of the United Nations of the signatures, ratifications, and reforms of which the present Treaty may be object, and will communicate them, for their information, to the Secretary General of the Organization of American States.

The denunciation of the declaration referred to in paragraph 2 of article 29 will be subject to the same procedures as the denunciation of the present Treaty, with the exception that it will take effect on the date of the delivery of the respective notification.

In witness whereof, the undersigned Plenipotentiaries, having deposited their Full Powers, which were found in good and due form, sign the present Treaty in the name of their respective Governments.

Done in the city of Mexico, Federal District, on the fourteenth day of the month of February of the year nineteen sixty-seven.

The undersigned Plenipotentiaries, provided with Full Powers of their respective Governments,

Convinced that the Treaty for the Proscription of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, negotiated and signed in compliance with the recommendations of the General Assembly of the United Nations, contained in Resolution 1911 (XVIII) of 27 November 1963, represents an important step to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons;

Conscious that the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons does not constitute an end in itself, but a means to reach, at a later stage, the general and complete disarmament; and

Desirous of contributing, to the extent of their possibilities, to put an end to the arms race, especially in the field of nuclear weapons, and to favor the consolidation of peace in the world, founded on mutual respect and on the sovereign equality of the States,

Have agreed on the following:

The undersigned Plenipotentiaries, provided with Full Powers of their respective Governments,

Convinced that the Treaty for the Proscription of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, negotiated and signed in compliance with the recommendations of the General Assembly of the United Nations, contained in Resolution 1911 (XVIII) of 27 November 1963, represents an important step to ensure the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons;

Conscious that the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons does not constitute an end in itself, but a means to reach, at a later stage, the general and complete disarmament; and

Desirous of contributing, to the extent of their possibilities, to put an end to the arms race, especially in the field of nuclear weapons, and to favor and consolidate the peace of the world, founded on mutual respect and on the sovereign equality of the States, Have agreed on the following: