Immediate action for nuclear disarmament demanded at UN

THE Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC) called for the total and general elimination of nuclear weapons at the 68th session of the UN General Assembly.

In the first high-level meeting of the General Assembly organized to discuss nuclear disarmament, Cuban Foreign Minister Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla presented the position of CELAC, a 33-member entity currently presided by Cuba as pro tempore president, PL reported.

"We are calling on all states, particularly those states which possess nuclear weapons, to eliminate the function of nuclear weapons in their doctrines, security policies and military strategies," Rodríguez affirmed in the forum, convened on the basis of a Cuban initiative and supported by the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM).

This important meeting was also inspired by the international movement led by Comandante en Jefe Fidel Castro, who, on many occasions, has warned against the threat to humanity’s survival represented by the existence of nuclear weapons.

Rodríguez Parrilla confirmed that the Latin America and Caribbean region gives the highest priority to attaining complete and verifiable nuclear disarmament. "The only guarantee against the utilization or threat of utilization of nuclear weapons is their total elimination."

He reaffirmed the inalienable right of states to conduct research about the production and peaceful use of nuclear energy without discrimination, and rejected any improvements to existing nuclear weapons or the development of new versions of these weapons.

He emphasized that the declaration of Latin America and the Caribbean as a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone through the Tlatelolco Treaty is a motive of pride for the region.

The Cuban Foreign Minister also reiterated CELAC’s firm commitment to work on convening an International High-Level Conference as a means of identifying ways and methods of eliminating them in the shortest possible time period.

Speaking on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, Iranian President Hassan Rouhani presented a road map which includes the prompt initiation of negotiations for an agreement to prohibit the possession, development, production, acquisition, testing, storing and transfer of nuclear weapons.

The mechanism, he said, must prevent the utilization and threat of utilization of these means, as well as guaranteeing their destruction.

The road map of the Non-Aligned Movement – a bloc which groups together 120 of the 193 UN countries – also designated September 26 as the day of commitment renewal to the elimination of these armaments, and the organization of a high-level forum within the next five years to review progress.

Leaders of Mongolia, Nigeria, Malaysia, Austria and Switzerland, among others, agreed on the urgency of eliminating the threat to humanity implied by nuclear weapons, on the basis of the coordinated work of the international community.