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Cuba Announces Intent to Join NPT, September 14

I. Cuban Statement

Statement by Cuban Foreign Minister Felipe Perez Roque, United Nations General Assembly, September 14.

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.

Source: UN website, http://www0.un.org/webcast/ga/57/statements/020914cubaE.htm.

II. Reaction

IAEA Director General

'IAEA Director General Welcomes Cuba's Intention to Join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty', IAEA Press Release PR 2002/14, September 17.

IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed Cuba's announcement to accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) and to ratify the Treaty of Tlatelolco establishing a nuclear-weapon-free zone in Latin America and the Caribbean. He expressed the hope that Cuba will conclude soon a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the Agency, as required under Article III of the NPT. "With Cuba's intention to become party to the NPT, we have come a step closer to a universal nuclear non-proliferation regime," Mr. ElBaradei said.

Only three countries worldwide with significant nuclear activities now remain outside the NPT. With 188 countries party to the Treaty, the NPT is the most adhered to international agreement after the United Nations Charter and the most widely adhered to multilateral arms control treaty. The NPT makes it mandatory that all non-nuclear-weapon States conclude comprehensive safeguards agreements with the IAEA, and thus put all of their nuclear material under IAEA safeguards.

The Director General also welcomed Cuba's ratification of the Tlatelolco Treaty, which completes the process of having all countries in the region of Latin America and the Caribbean as members of the nuclear-weapon-free zone in that region. Mr ElBaradei said that, "the Tlatelolco Treaty provides a good model for other regional nuclear-weapon-free zones to follow". He added that "universal adherence of all countries in regions having nuclear-weapon-free zone arrangements is important to further strengthen the non-proliferation regime".

Canada

'Canada welcomes Cuban decision to join nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty', Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Press Release, No. 103 (2002), September 20.

Minister of Foreign Affairs Bill Graham today welcomed Cuba's announcement that it would accede to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT). ... "This is a significant step for Cuba and an important gesture in support of a multilateral, rules-based system governing disarmament and non-proliferation," said Mr. Graham. "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." ... The NPT is the central instrument in which Canada's nuclear disarmament and nuclear non-proliferation policy is rooted. The NPT is the only international treaty that politically and legally commits the nuclear-weapon states (China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States) to nuclear disarmament and the only global treaty that prohibits the proliferation of nuclear weapons. Promoting universal adherence to the Treaty is a Canadian priority.

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© 2002 The Acronym Institute.