Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America Message to the Senate Transmitting Additional Protocol I.

To the Senate of the United States:

With a view to receiving the advice and consent of the Senate to ratification, I transmit herewith Additional Protocol I to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America. The Protocol was signed by me on behalf of the United States on May 26, 1977.

For the information of the Senate, I transmit also the report of the Department of State on the Protocol and a copy of the Treaty to which it pertains.

The Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America, done at Mexico City, February 14, 1967, constitutes the first successful attempt to establish a nuclear weapon-free zone in any populated area of the world. The Treaty itself is open only to States located in the zone and has been signed by all of them, with the exception of Cuba and Guyana. It has been ratified by all signatories, except Argentina, which announced in November 1977 its intention to ratify the Treaty. It is not yet in force for Brazil and Chile. At present, it is in force for twenty-two States.

The Treaty is accompanied by two Protocols. Protocol II to the Treaty, intended for signature by nuclear weapon States, was ratified by the United States on May 12, 1971. It calls on the nuclear weapon States to respect the Latin American Nuclear Free Zone, not to contribute to any violation of the Treaty, and not to use or threaten to use nuclear weapons against the Parties to the Treaty. Other nuclear weapon States that have ratified Protocol II are France, the People's Republic of China and the United Kingdom.

Protocol I, transmitted today for your advice and consent to ratification, is open to all States having international responsibility, de jure or de facto, for territories lying within the zone of application defined in the Treaty. It has been ratified by the Netherlands and the United Kingdom and obligates States adhering to it to apply pertinent provisions of the Treaty to such territories lying within the zone. The territories affected by United States adherence include Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, the Canal Zone (until entry into force of the Panama Canal Treaties), and our military base at Guantanamo.

I am convinced that it is in the best interest of the United States to ratify Protocol I. Such a step will strengthen our relations with our Latin American neighbors, further our global non-proliferation and arms control objectives and contribute to the full realization of the Latin American Nuclear Free Zone. It is my sincere hope that adherence by the United States to Protocol I will induce other countries, eligible to become Parties to the Treaty or its Protocols, to take the necessary steps so that the Treaty may enter into full force and effect for the entire zone of application.

I recommend that the Senate give early and favorable consideration to Additional Protocol I and give its advice and consent to ratification, with the same understandings and declarations attached to United States ratification of Protocol II, and with the additional understandings and declarations concerning transit and transport privileges, exercise of the freedoms of the seas and passage through territorial waters, which accompany the report of the Department of State.

JIMMY CARTER

The White House,

May 24, 1978.