Cuba commemorates the International Day for the Elimination of All Nuclear Weapons

September 26, 2017

#Cuba commemorates the International Day for the Elimination of All Nuclear Weapons

Submitted by editor on Tue, 09/26/2017 - 08:51

GENEVA, September 26, 2017.- On commemorating the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons, the Permanent Mission of Cuba calls once again to raise awareness of the threat posed by nuclear weapons and the need for their total elimination.

Cuba encourages the United Nations system, civil society, academia, parliamentarians, the media and individuals to take appropriate actions to commemorate this date.

The existence of nuclear weapons and their potential use or threat of use is a serious threat to humanity.

Nuclear disarmament is an international priority and deserves attention at the highest possible level. The only absolute guarantee against the use or threat of use of such weapons is its prohibition and total elimination.

In that context, it is worth highlighting that Latin America and the Caribbean is the first densely populated region of the world established as a Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone under the Treaty of Tlatelolco. It is also especially significant that it is the first region of the world formally proclaimed as a Zone of Peace, in accordance with the Proclamation adopted by the Heads of State and Government on the occasion of the Second Summit of the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), held in Havana, Cuba, in January 2014.

The struggle for a world free of nuclear weapons has also been promoted by the Non-Aligned Movement, which at its 17th Summit Conference in Margarita Island, Venezuela, ratified this objective as a top priority in the field of disarmament.

The adoption of the Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty on 7 July of this year marked a milestone in the history of the United Nations in favor of the general and complete disarmament. This progress is an effective contribution to international peace and security.

In addition, the convening of a United Nations High-level International Conference on Nuclear Disarmament, the first in the history of the organization, to be held not later than 2018, should be an important opportunity to review progress and renew common efforts to achieve a world free of nuclear weapons.(Cubaminrex-Permanent Mission of Cuba to Geneva).