Mexico promotes peace at the eighth OPANAL course on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation

Mexico promotes peace at the eighth OPANAL course on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation

From January 15-25, the Agency for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean (OPANAL) held a course on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation, organized with the support of the Matías Romero Institute. The course promotes disarmament education to prevent catastrophic humanitarian consequences and to fight for their elimination.

Thirty-nine people from the Mexican Foreign Service and the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Defense, the Navy and Security participated. The two-week course deepened their knowledge of the international nuclear non-proliferation and disarmament regime and its main international instruments, such as the Treaty of Tlatelolco, the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).

At the inauguration, Undersecretary for Multilateral Affairs and Human Rights Joel Hernández García and OPANAL Secretary-General Flávio Roberto Bonzanini agreed on the importance of promoting disarmament education among the new generations.

The OPANAL course on nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation provides an opportunity for analysis, reflection and discussion on the importance of the subject in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is embodied in the Treaty of Tlatelolco, whose negotiation was headed by Ambassador Emeritus Alfonso García Robles, 1982 Nobel Peace Prize recipient.

OPANAL monitors implementation of the treaty, provides a forum for the exchange of information and consultation among the countries of the region and acts as an interlocutor with the other countries that form nuclear-weapon-free zones.

The Treaty of Tlatelolco, and the second Meeting of States Parties to the NPT chaired by Ambassador Juan Ramón de la Fuente, testify to Mexico's historic commitment to nuclear disarmament.

Through the OPANAL course for administration officials, the Mexican government promotes peace and disarmament education in compliance with the guiding principles of its foreign policy and international commitments with the United Nations.