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The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, also known as the Treaty of Tlatelolco, was created for the following reasons:

to ensure the absence of nuclear weapons in a zone of application defined within the Treaty,
to contribute to nuclear nonproliferation,
to promote general and complete disarmament,
to use nuclear materials and facilities under the jurisdiction of the parties for exclusively peaceful purposes,
to prohibit and impede the testing, use, fabrication, production, or acquisition, by any means, of all nuclear weapons, directly or indirectly by any of the Parties, by order of third parties or by any other means,
to prohibit the receipt, storage, installation, deployment or any form of possession of all nuclear weapons, directly or indirectly by any of the Parties, by order of third parties or by any other means,
to commit the Parties to abstain from carrying out, promoting, or authorizing, directly or indirectly, the testing, use, fabrication, production, possession, or control of all nuclear weapons or to participate in these activities in any form.

Who are the Member States of the Treaty?

All 33 States in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean have signed, ratified and have waived Article 28 of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. The Member States of the Treaty of Tlatelolco are: Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Grenada, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela have all signed are all full Parties to the Treaty.

How does the Treaty enter into force?

Article 28 (Article 29 - amended) of the Treaty of Tlatelolco establishes that it will enter into force among the States that have ratified it as soon as the following requirements have been met:

All the Latin American and Caribbean States must deposit their instruments of ratification,
All of the entailed States outside of the Zone of Application must sign and ratify Additional Protocols I and II, and
Each Party must establish bilateral or multilateral safeguards agreements with the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) or waive, either partially or totally, Article 28 of the Treaty.

Where is the Zone of Application?

The Zone is defined by Article 4 of the Treaty of Tlatelolco and includes the entire Latin American and Caribbean region as well as large portions of the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. MAP

What are the Characteristics of the Treaty of Tlatelolco?

The main characteristics of the Treaty of Tlatelolco are the following:

The Treaty shall not be subject to reservations
The Treaty is of permanent nature and shall remain in force indefinitely
First International Treaty which defines the Nuclear Weapon
Is the first Disarmament Treaty, which binds the five nuclear powers to respect the status of desnuclearization of the region and also not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against contracting Parties. (Negative Security Assurances).
The Treaty may be amended. Any Contracting Party may propose amendments to the treaty and shall submit its proposals to the Council through the Secretary General who shall transmit them to all contracting Parties and to all other Signatories. A special session of the General Conference shall be convened for this purpose. At two-thirds majority of the contracting Parties present and voting shall be required for the adoption of any amendment. The amendments shall enter into force after a simple majority of the contracting Parties has ratified them.

What are the Additional Protocols?

There are two Additional Protocols in the Treaty of Tlatelolco.

Additional Protocol I is directed at States that de jure or de facto are responsible for territories within the Zone of Application of the Treaty. This protocol has been signed and ratified by the United Kingdom, Holland, France, and the United States of America.

Additional Protocol II is directed at the Nuclear Weapon States officially recognized by the international community and has been signed and ratified by China, the United States of America, France, the United Kingdom, and the USSR (now the Russian Federation).

What are the Amendments of the Treaty?

General Conference Resolution 267 (E-V) (1990) to amend Article 7, related to the legal denomination of the Treaty. Once into force will be "Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean" but will continue to be recognized as Treaty of Tlatelolco;

General Conference Resolution 268 (XII) (1991), to amend paragraph 2 of Article 25, following the wording of Article 8 of the OAS Charter, to make possible the adherence to the System of Tlatelolco of those countries which previously impeded to do so;

General Conference Resolution 290 (E-VII) (1992) to amend Articles 14, 15, 16,19 and 20, to reassure the confidentiality of industrial secrets of Member States in nuclear matters and to establish how IAEA shall intervene in the special inspections referred to in Article 12 and 13 of the Treaty.

What is OPANAL?

The Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) is an inter-governmental agency created by the Treaty of Tlatelolco to ensure that the obligations of the Treaty be met. OPANAL is responsible for convoking regular and special general conferences and consultation meetings related to the established purposes, means, and procedures of the Treaty. OPANAL also supervises the adherence to the Control System and the obligations stemming from the Treaty of Tlatelolco.

What are the main administrative bodies of OPANAL?

OPANAL is comprised of three main bodies:

The General Conference, which convenes for regular sessions biennially and for special sessions when deemed necessary, the Council of OPANAL, comprised of five Member States, which meet every two months in regular meetings and in special meetings as is necessary, and the Secretariat General.

What does the General Conference do?

The General Conference has a number of responsibilities, which include:

Studying and ruling on any issue or matter addressed in the Treaty, including those that refer to the powers and functions of OPANAL´s administrative bodies,
Establishing procedures to ensure the adherence to the Control System established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco,
Electing the members of the Council,
Electing and dismissing the Secretary General,
Receiving and reviewing biennial and special reports presented by the Council and the Secretary General,
Establishing, as the competent body, agreements with governments and international agencies,
Approving the Agency's budget and establishing the financial contributions scale for Member States,
Electing the authorities for each session of the General Conference,
Establishing any subsidiary organization deemed necessary, and
Approving the Rules of Procedure.

What is the Council and what are its responsibilities?

The Council, in addition to the functions conferred upon it by the Treaty and those assigned by the General Conference, should oversee the Control System to ensure its proper function according to the provisions of the Treaty and the decisions adopted by the General Conference. The Council is also charged with presenting a biennial report on its work as well as any other special reports deemed necessary by the General Conference. The Council consists of five members of OPANAL elected to a four-year term. Currently, the Council's members are Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile and Mexico. (For futher information see Resolution CG/Res. 498 (XX))

Argentina

Bolivia
Bolivia

Brazil
Brazil

Chile
Chile

Mexico

Who is the Secretary General?

The Secretary General is elected from among his peers and is the highest-ranking administrative official of the Agency. The Secretary General will occupy the post during a four-year period and can be re-elected for one additional term. The post cannot be occupied by a national of the host country (Mexico). The Secretary General is charged with ensuring the proper operation of the Control System established by the Treaty of Tlatelolco (Article 10, paragraph 5). In addition to the responsibilities conferred upon him by the Treaty of Tlatelolco and those assigned by the General Conference, the Secretary General is present at all General Conference and Council sessions and presents an annual biennial report on the activities of the Agency as well as special reports as requested by the General Conference and Council or that the Secretary General himself considers necessary. Click here to see bio's of OPANAL's past Secretary Generals.

The XXI Regular Session of the General Conference of OPANAL designate by acclamation H.E. Madame Gioconda Ubeda Rivera, Secretary General from February 1, 2010 to December 31, 2013.

What are the Subsidiary Bodies of OPANAL?

The Subsidiary bodies of the OPANAL are:

The Good Offices Committee,
The Committee on Contributions, Administrative and Budgetary Matters.

What is the Committee on Contributions, Administrative, and Budgetary Matters?

The Committee on Contributions, Administrative, and Budgetary Matters was created on April 21, 1977 by Resolution 106 (V). According with the new Financial Regulations of the Agency, in its Article 12 aproved in the last XVI General Conference, resolves: (For futher information see Resolution CG/Res.501 (XX))

BELIZE
Belize

BRAZIL
Brazil

Chile
Cuba

Guatemala

Nicaragua

Last Modification: 15 April 2008