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Guatemala
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
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SIGNED
20 September 2017 |
RATIFIED
13 June 2022 |
IN FORCE
18 September 2022 |
Status
Guatemala has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and has been legally bound by it since 11 September 2022.
Signature and ratification
Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.
Addressing the United Nations ahead of the signing, the then-president of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, described the TPNW as “an important step towards a world free of nuclear weapons”, adding that “collective security can only be achieved through the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons”.
The congress of Guatemala approved ratification of the TPNW on 2 March 2022, and at a ceremony in New York on 13 June 2022 the minister of foreign affairs, Mario Búcaro, deposited Guatemala’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general. Accompanying the minister were representatives of other Central American states.
Guatemala was the 62nd state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.
Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: UNOLA
Mario Búcaro, the minister of foreign affairs, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2022. Photo: ICAN
National position
In 2021, Guatemala hailed the entry into force of the TPNW as “a firm step that legally obliges the elimination of nuclear weapons” and complements and strengthens the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Guatemala submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 28 December 2022 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.
Per Article 12, Guatemala has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.
Guatemala has also utilised the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review process to encourage other states to join the TPNW.
Meetings of states parties
Guatemala attended as an observer the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. (Although Guatemala ratified the treaty one week before the meeting, it was considered an observer, as the treaty had not yet entered into force for it.)
“With Guatemala’s ratification of the TPNW,” it said, “Central America has become the first entire region in the world to have completely accepted the legal framework for the prohibition of nuclear weapons.”
TPNW negotiations
Guatemala participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.
In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, Guatemala expressed strong support for the “historic process”, which “is the result of tireless efforts and unwavering political will on the part of a growing majority of states”.
In its closing statement, it celebrated the fact that, after years of inaction in the field of nuclear disarmament, “today we have good news”.
In 2016, Guatemala co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
Before the negotiations
During a UN working group meeting in Geneva in 2016, Guatemala proposed an important amendment to the group’s final report that strengthened a recommendation to proceed with negotiations on a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons in 2017.
Guatemala was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.
Further information
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has joined the TPNW
[HIGHLIGHTS]
|
|
|
|
SIGNED
20 September 2017 |
RATIFIED
13 June 2022 |
IN FORCE
18 September 2022 |
Status
Guatemala has signed and ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), and has been legally bound by it since 11 September 2022.
Signature and ratification
Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, signed the TPNW at a high-level ceremony in New York when it opened for signature on 20 September 2017.
Addressing the United Nations ahead of the signing, the then-president of Guatemala, Jimmy Morales, described the TPNW as “an important step towards a world free of nuclear weapons”, adding that “collective security can only be achieved through the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons”.
The congress of Guatemala approved ratification of the TPNW on 2 March 2022, and at a ceremony in New York on 13 June 2022 the minister of foreign affairs, Mario Búcaro, deposited Guatemala’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general. Accompanying the minister were representatives of other Central American states.
Guatemala was the 62nd state to ratify or accede to the TPNW.
Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, signs the TPNW in 2017. Photo: UNOLA
Mario Búcaro, the minister of foreign affairs, deposits the instrument of ratification in 2022. Photo: ICAN
National position
In 2021, Guatemala hailed the entry into force of the TPNW as “a firm step that legally obliges the elimination of nuclear weapons” and complements and strengthens the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.
Implementation
In accordance with Article 2 of the TPNW, Guatemala submitted a declaration to the UN secretary-general on 28 December 2022 confirming that it does not own, possess, or control nuclear weapons, has never done so, and does not host any other state’s nuclear weapons on its territory.
Per Article 12, Guatemala has promoted universal adherence to the TPNW, including by co-sponsoring and consistently voting in favour of an annual UN General Assembly resolution since 2018 that calls upon all states to sign, ratify, or accede to the treaty “at the earliest possible date”.
Guatemala has also utilised the UN Human Rights Council’s universal periodic review process to encourage other states to join the TPNW.
Meetings of states parties
Guatemala attended as an observer the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW, held in Vienna in June 2022. (Although Guatemala ratified the treaty one week before the meeting, it was considered an observer, as the treaty had not yet entered into force for it.)
“With Guatemala’s ratification of the TPNW,” it said, “Central America has become the first entire region in the world to have completely accepted the legal framework for the prohibition of nuclear weapons.”
TPNW negotiations
Guatemala participated in the negotiation of the TPNW at the United Nations in New York in 2017 and was among 122 states that voted in favour of its adoption.
In its opening statement to the negotiating conference, Guatemala expressed strong support for the “historic process”, which “is the result of tireless efforts and unwavering political will on the part of a growing majority of states”.
In its closing statement, it celebrated the fact that, after years of inaction in the field of nuclear disarmament, “today we have good news”.
In 2016, Guatemala co-sponsored the UN General Assembly resolution that established the formal mandate for states to commence negotiations on “a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons, leading towards their total elimination”.
Before the negotiations
During a UN working group meeting in Geneva in 2016, Guatemala proposed an important amendment to the group’s final report that strengthened a recommendation to proceed with negotiations on a legally binding instrument to prohibit nuclear weapons in 2017.
Guatemala was among 127 states that endorsed a “humanitarian pledge” in 2015–16 to cooperate “in efforts to stigmatise, prohibit, and eliminate nuclear weapons”. The pledge was instrumental in building momentum and support for convening the TPNW negotiations.
Further information
[PARTNERS]
Association of Guatemalan Physicians and Scientists for the Prevention of War
EPCAT
[LOCALSUPPORT]
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