Statement by the President on the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America

One year ago today, on February 14, 1967, the nations of Latin America gathered in Tlatelolco, Mexico, to sign a Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America. Twenty-one nations of the region have now joined in this historic undertaking.

The United States considers this treaty to be a realistic and effective arms control measure of unique significance--not only to the peoples of Latin America, but to all the peoples of the world.

Today I am pleased to announce that the United States will sign Protocol II to this treaty which calls upon the powers possessing nuclear weapons to respect the status of denuclearization in Latin America and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the Latin American states party to the treaty. I have appointed Adrian S. Fisher, Deputy Director of the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency, as my emissary to sign the Protocol in Mexico with an appropriate statement.

Upon ratification by the Senate, the United States will assume the obligations to those countries within the region which undertake and meet the treaty's requirements. I am pleased to note that the drafters of this treaty have indicated that transit by the United States within the treaty zone will continue to be governed by the principles and rules of international law.

The Treaty of Tlatelolco has been closely related to the long effort to reach worldwide agreement to prevent the further spread of nuclear weapons. It will create a nuclear free zone in an area of 7 1/2 million square miles, inhabited by nearly 200 million people. Like the Nonproliferation Treaty, this treaty, in addition to prohibiting the acquisition of nuclear weapons, also prohibits the acquisition of nuclear explosive devices for peaceful purposes. However, it has been drafted in such a way as to make it possible for Latin American parties to the treaty to obtain peaceful nuclear explosion services.

It is indeed fitting that this giant step forward should have had its genesis in Latin America, an area which has come to be identified with regional cooperation. I particularly wish to congratulate our distinguished friend, President Diaz Ordaz of Mexico, for the initiative and leadership which his Government has contributed to this treaty and thereby to the peace of this region and of the world.

In signing this Protocol, the United States once again affirms its special and historic relationship with the peoples of Latin America and its stake in their future. The United States gives this affirmation gladly, in the conviction that the denuclearization of this region enhances the development of its peaceful nuclear potential.