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Disarmament DiplomacyIssue No. 67, October - November 2002 News ReviewCuba Announces Intention to Join NPTAddressing the United Nations General Assembly on September 14, Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque announced his government's intention to accede to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and ratify the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (Treaty of Tlatelolco). The move will leave only three states - India, Israel and Pakistan - outside the NPT. The Foreign Minister explained the startling change of policy as follows: "Until today, and despite the fact that it has not developed and has no intention to develop nuclear weapons ever, Cuba has not been a state party to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons, for it is an insufficient and discriminatory instrument allowing the establishment of a club of nuclear powers without any concrete disarmament-oriented commitments. However, as a signal of the clear political will of the Cuban government and its commitment to an effective disarmament process that ensures world peace, our country has decided to adhere to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons. In doing so, we reaffirm our hope that all nuclear weapons will be totally eliminated under strict international verification. In addition, and despite the fact that the only nuclear power in the Americas pursues a policy of hostility towards Cuba that does not rule out the use of force, Cuba will also ratify the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean, known as [the] Treaty of Tlatelolco, that had been signed by our country in 1995." Although the US remained silent on the move, the Cuban change of heart was widely applauded. On September 17, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei noted: "With Cuba's intention to become party to the NPT, we have come a step closer to a universal nuclear non-proliferation regime." On September 20, Canadian Foreign Minster Bill Graham succinctly voiced the sentiments of many of his counterparts around the world: "This is a significant step for Cuba and an important gesture in support of a multilateral, rules-based system governing disarmament and non-proliferation... Cuba's decision will make it part of a community of 188 states that are members of the NPT. Its accession will bring the NPT, the most widely adhered-to arms control treaty in existence, one state closer to universality. Canada calls on India, Israel and Pakistan, states that have not signed the NPT, to follow Cuba's example and accede to the Treaty as non-nuclear-weapon states." Related material on Acronym website:Reports: Statement by Felipe Perez Roque, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Cuba, United Nations General Assembly, September 14, 2002, UN transcript (http://www0.un.org/webcast/ga/57/statements/020914cubaE.htm); Cuba to adhere to nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, Reuters, September 14; IAEA Director General welcomes Cuba's intention to join the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty', IAEA Press Release PR 2002/14, September 17; Canada welcomes Cuban decision to join nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty', Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Press Release No. 103 (2002), September 20. © 2002 The Acronym Institute. |