Guatemala

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

SIGNED

RATIFIED

IN FORCE

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 ceremony, 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 the then-minister of foreign affairs, Mario Búcaro, deposited Guatemala’s instrument of ratification with the UN secretary-general in New York on 13 June 2022. 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 Guatemala’s instrument of ratification in 2022. Photo: ICAN

National position

Guatemala has described the TPNW’s entry into force in 2021 as “a great step forward in legal commitments towards the elimination of nuclear weapons”, and has emphasised that the TPNW complements and strengthens the Non-Proliferation Treaty of 1968.

In 2024, it hailed the TPNW as “a beacon of hope and a milestone in the search for international peace and security”.

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.

As required by Article 3, Guatemala has a comprehensive safeguards agreement in force with the International Atomic Energy Agency to guard against the misuse of nuclear facilities and materials. It also has an additional protocol in force.

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 observed the first meeting of states parties to the TPNW in 2022. (Although Guatemala had ratified the treaty one week before the meeting, it was still 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.”

Having become a TPNW state party on 18 September 2022, Guatemala participated in the second meeting of states parties in 2023, where it described the TPNW as ‘a lighthouse representing all of our hopes and aspirations for a world free of nuclear weapons’.

It also participated in the third meeting of states parties in 2025.

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 Weapons Ban Monitor

Status

Signature and ratification

National position

Implementation

Meetings of states parties

TPNW negotiations

Before the negotiations

Further information

Local Partner Organizations

Guatemala

Nuclear-weapon-free state

Has joined the TPNW

Related news View all news ›

colombia

Latin America and Caribbean urged to bring remaining states into the TPNW

tpnw

Steady increase in support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2022

tpnw

Latin American and Caribbean states intensify efforts to eliminate nuclear weapons

guatemala

All Central American nations have now ratified the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

palestine

First Committee reaffirms support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons

belize

Caribbean nations rally behind UN nuclear weapon ban treaty

tpnw

Leaders voice support for nuclear ban treaty

tpnw

Caribbean experts gathered to explore region’s role in supporting the NuclearBan Treaty

tpnw

ICAN side event at the UN on possible elements for a treaty banning nuclear weapons