Tlatelolco at 50 – The Continued Relevance and Potential of Nuclear Weapon-Free-Zones

 

From left to right: Ambassador Luiz Filipe de Macedo Soares, Secretary-General of OPANAL; Ambassador Paulina Franceschi, Permanent Representative of Panama to International Organizations based in Vienna; Ambassador Rafael Mariano Grossi, Permanent Representative of Argentina to International Organizations based in Vienna; Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, Director, International Organizations and Nonproliferation Program at CNS.

 

On Wednesday, 3 May 2017, in Vienna, Austria, the Latin American and Caribbean Group (GRULAC), Chaired by Venezuela, and the Vienna Center for Disarmament and Non-Proliferation (VCDNP) organized the panel "Tlatelolco at 50: The Continued Relevance and Potential of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones."

The panel is part of the celebrations for the 50th Anniversary of the conclusion of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean - Treaty of Tlatelolco and aims to highlight the relevance of the Nuclear-Weapons-Free Zone in Latin America and the Caribbean, as well as the region's substantive contribution to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation of nuclear weapons.

The event began with a welcoming address by Ambassador Jesse Chacón, Permanent Representative of Venezuela to international organizations based in Vienna and Chair of GRULAC. Also during the inauguration, Mr. Yukiya Amano, Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) delivered a message on the occasion of the 50th Anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco.

The following persons participated as panellists: Ambassador Luiz Filipe de Macedo Soares, Secretary-General of OPANAL; Ambassador Paulina Franceschi, Permanent Representative of Panama to International Organizations based in Vienna; Ambassador Rafael Mariano Grossi, Permanent Representative of Argentina to International Organizations based in Vienna; Gaukhar Mukhatzhanova, Director, International Organizations and Nonproliferation Program at CNS.

In his statement, the Secretary-General of OPANAL highlighted: "The Treaty of Tlatelolco, with its brevity and simplicity, is characterized by an admirable political engineering which has been functioning to perfection over the last 50 years and has inspired four other regions". Moreover, he also mentioned: "With Tlatelolco, Latin America and the Caribbean provides themselves with political credentials to act as a bloc and participate more intensely in the debates and international negotiations on the ban of nuclear weapons and other weapons of mass destruction, on non-proliferation and on correlated matters regarding international security."

The panel "Tlatelolco at 50: The Continued Relevance and Potential of Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones" was held at the Vienna International Center on the sidelines of the first Preparatory Committee for the 2020 Review Conference of the Parties to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, in which the Secretary-General of OPANAL also participated.

On 14 February 2017, the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean - Treaty of Tlatelolco fulfilled 50 years. The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the first instrument of international law that prohibited nuclear weapons in a densely populated region of the world.

See the photos of the panel.