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Guatemala
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has signed the TPNW
Has not yet ratified the TPNW
Signed: 20 September 2017
Status
Guatemala has signed but not yet ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Signature
Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, signed the TPNW 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” and said that “collective security can only be achieved through the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons”.
In a statement to the United Nations in September 2021, the government said that it is “in the internal final phase of ratification” of the TPNW. The matter is before the congress, where first and second readings were completed in 2019.
In October 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.
Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, signs the TPNW in New York on 20 September 2017. Photo: UNOLA
Universalisation
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”.
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
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.
Nuclear-weapon-free state
Has signed the TPNW
Has not yet ratified the TPNW
[HIGHLIGHTS]
Signed: 20 September 2017
Status
Guatemala has signed but not yet ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
Signature
Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, signed the TPNW 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” and said that “collective security can only be achieved through the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons”.
In a statement to the United Nations in September 2021, the government said that it is “in the internal final phase of ratification” of the TPNW. The matter is before the congress, where first and second readings were completed in 2019.
In October 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.
Sandra Erica Jovel Polanco, the then-minister of foreign affairs of Guatemala, signs the TPNW in New York on 20 September 2017. Photo: UNOLA
Universalisation
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”.
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
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.
[PARTNERS]
Association of Guatemalan Physicians and Scientists for the Prevention of War
EPCAT
[LOCALSUPPORT]
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