Guatemala confirms Nuclear Test Ban Treaty

Saturday, 14 January 2012 08:46

Newsroom Staff

By Susana Lima

Guatemala on Friday finalized its ratification of the Treaty on the Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT), which contributes to the total membership of Latin America and the Caribbean to this international agreement.

Guatemalan Foreign Minister Haroldo Rodas Melgar, on Thursday delivered the ratification to the loyal office of the United Nations in New York, having been voted by the Congress of Guatemala.

Since 1996 when the treaty was issued, has gathered 156 ratifications and missing only eight countries with nuclear programs that have not yet confirmed to achieve entry into force. The nations that have not yet signed are the United States, China, India, Pakistan, Egypt, Israel, Iran and North Korea.

With the exception of Cuba and the Dominican Republic, 31 countries in Latin America and the Caribbean have already confirmed the treaty.

Alfredo Labbé, Chilean diplomat and current President of the Preparatory Commission for the CTBT Organization (CTBTO) in 2012, expressed on ratification: It is very important because it reaffirms the commitment of Latin America to this treaty. It is a political gesture of Guatemala, a country very active in the United Nations multilateralism.

The executive secretary of the commission of the CTBTO, Tibor Toth Hungarian, stressed the importance of Guatemalan confirmation of the treaty as an important piece for a world free of nuclear weapons. Underlines the commitment of Guatemala to ban nuclear testing and to promote non-proliferation and disarmament around the world, he added.

The purpose of the CTBTO is to install a system of 337 seismic monitoring stations, hydroacoustic, subsonic and radioisotopes to effectively detect any atomic detonation.

89 countries and several islands located in different oceans of the planet already have these facilities.

The monitoring network was opened since 2000 and has installed 264 of these stations through the investment of the signatory countries, amounting to around one billion dollars.

These facilities are located in hidden places such as Easter Island or Antarctica to urban areas like Beijing, Melbourne and Buenos Aires.

In Guatemala there is an auxiliary seismic station called "The Apazote"