Costa Rica Urges Latin
America To Ratify
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty
(AP) - Costa Rica is
urging all of Latin
America -
currently nuclear-weapon
free - to ratify the
nuclear test-ban treaty,
its ambassador to
Austria said Monday.
Ana Teresa Dengo, Costa
Rican ambassador to
Vienna, said Costa Rica
aims to turn the region
into a nuclear-free zone
during its two-year-term
as head of the
preparatory commission
of the Comprehensive
Nuclear Test Ban Treaty.
Her announcement came a
day after Venezuelan
President Hugo Chavez
said his government was
building a nuclear
reactor with Russia's
help.
Chavez has insisted that
his plans are for a
peaceful nuclear energy
program. But his
announcement may have
raised some eyebrows in
the U.S., which
currently has strained
ties with both
countries.
Chavez also has strongly
defended Iran's nuclear
program and argues that
Western powers do not
have the right to
prevent developing
countries from pursuing
nuclear technology.
The United States and
the European Union are
concerned that Iran may
be developing nuclear
weapons despite the
country's insistence
that it is pursuing
nothing more than
nuclear energy.
No Latin American
country currently has
nuclear weapons,
although Brazil
announced in August that
it would develop a
nuclear-propelled
submarine to protect the
oil reserves found
recently off its coast.
Venezuela signed the
test-ban treaty in 1996
and ratified it in 2002.
Brazil signed the accord
in 1996 and ratified it
in 1998.
Among other Latin
American countries,
Cuba, Trinidad and
Tobago, Dominica, San
Vicente and the
Grenadines have not
signed the treaty, and
Guatemala has not
ratified it.
Since 1996, 180
countries have signed
the treaty and 145
countries have ratified
it.
|
