Foreign Secretary Luis Videgaray accompanied the International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) at today's ceremony in Oslo, Norway awarding the Nobel Peace Prize to the coalition of non-governmental organizations for the impetus it gave to adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in 2017.
Foreign Secretary Videgaray was present at the ceremony in recognition of Mexico's leadership beginning in 2012, when 16 countries, including Mexico, called on the international community to consider the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons and the need for stronger efforts to prohibit them. After five years of negotiations and thanks to ICAN's tireless efforts as a civil society organization, the treaty was adopted in the UN. The Mexican negotiating team was headed by Amb. Jorge Lomónaco, who also attended the ceremony with the Foreign Secretary.
Until the treaty was adopted, nuclear weapons were the only weapons of mass destruction not prohibited by a legally binding agreement. The States Parties commit not to develop, test, produce, manufacture or otherwise acquire, possess or stockpile nuclear weapons or other nuclear devices or explosives.
Mexico also demonstrated its commitment by hosting the second International Conference on the Humanitarian Impact of Nuclear Weapons in February 2014 in Nayarit to raise awareness about the threat posed by the existence of nuclear weapons in the 21st century.
In line with its commitment to nuclear disarmament, Mexico signed the treaty on September 22nd, its first day open for signature during the UN General Assembly and became the fourth country to ratify it on November 28, 2017.
Mexico will continue to encourage other countries to adhere to the treaty so that it can quickly enter into force. As of today, the treaty has 56 signatures and needs 50 ratifications to enter into force.
In Oslo, Foreign Secretary Videgaray met with the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, who emphasized Mexico's role in promoting the Tlatelolco Treaty and making Latin America and the Caribbean the first densely populated nuclear-weapon-free zone in the world, which earned the Mexican Alfonso García Robles the Nobel Peace Prize in 1982.
Lastly, Foreign Secretary Videgaray met with Norwegian Prime Minister Erna Solberg and Oslo Mayor Marianne Borgen.
