During his participation in the United Nations Conference on Disarmament’s High-Level Segment, Foreign Minister Felipe Solá referred to that event as being “the only forum of the international community to negotiate disarmament, non-proliferation and control of armaments,” and highlighted “the importance of all Member States resuming pending tasks". The minister highlighted that “Latin America and the Caribbean is a region of peace that has been consolidated by signing the Treaty of Tlatelolco, becoming one of the first Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zones in the world.” He added that, despite that, there are still effective interpretative declarations made by States possessing nuclear weapons at the time of adhering to the Treaty’s Additional Protocol II and that, in that context, Argentina has denounced nuclear submarines entering the South Atlantic. He recalled that this year marks the 30th anniversary of one of the key milestones regarding peace and security in Latin America: the creation of the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC). Furthermore, he stated that Argentina is confident that the next Review Conference of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty will enhance and reaffirm our commitment to the Treaty. In this regard, he stated that the Treaty’s legally binding obligations regarding disarmament are clear, and that, together with the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty and the negotiation of a convention to prohibit fissile material production, they are the essential basis for the future total elimination of nuclear weapons. Solá highlighted that the countries that, as Argentina, have renounced nuclear weapons and have denuclearized their region “cannot be subject to the arbitrary behavior of those who possess them,” and he called on those States that still believe that nuclear weapons have an important role in this global scenario to make the efforts needed to guarantee that such weapons will not be used against us and that we will not be subject to threats. Finally, the Foreign Minister stated that “the security situation at the global level shows that there is still much to do regarding disarmament and non-proliferation, and that Argentina is convinced that the Conference on Disarmament can and must continue to be a substantive contribution towards a safer world”.
