Venezuela consolidates its leadership in the UN Conference on Disarmament - MPPRE

Venezuela consolidates its leadership in the UN Conference on Disarmament

This Tuesday, June 4, 2019, a new plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament (CD) of the United Nations Organization was held in Geneva, Switzerland. This body is chaired by the Bolivarian Government of Nicolás Maduro, and whose Permanent Representative is Ambassador Jorge Valero. In the presidium of this plenary meeting were present the Secretary General of the Conference and the highest authority of the UN-Geneva, Michael Moller; the Permanent Representative of Vietnam, who will be the next president of the Conference on Disarmament; and Ambassador Jorge Valero, who on behalf of Venezuela presides over the only body in charge of dealing with disarmament issues, in particular, nuclear disarmament. In this plenary, topics related to the Nuclear Disarmament Agenda were addressed. Participated as panelists Usman Jadoon, an expert from Pakistan; John Borrie, head of the Mass Destruction Weapons Program and other Strategic Arms of the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (Unidir). The Ambassador Jorge Valero informed that in the plenary session of the Conference on Disarmament an intense and interesting debate took place, in which many delegations participated, among them, the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Germany, Australia, France, Russia, India, Cuba, Indonesia, Iran, Mexico, Algeria, Egypt and Japan. The Bolivarian diplomat highlighted that of the sixty-five (65) countries that make up the Conference on Disarmament, only the United States and diplomatic representatives of governments ruled by the empire such as Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Chile and Peru were absent. According to Ambassador Jorge Valero, the massive participation of the countries that make up the Conference on Disarmament constitutes a flagrant defeat for the supremacist government of Donald Trump and his puppets, who tried – unsuccessfully – to prevent Venezuela from assuming the presidency of the UN CD. Ambassador Jorge Valero said that the Bolivarian Government has reaffirmed, once again, its leading role in the most diverse international scenarios. The leadership exercised by Venezuela, and the decisive recognition that the government of Nicolás Maduro receives in all the multilateral forums, is a convincing demonstration that the US empire and its satellites are a minority in the community of nations. Towards a world free of nuclear weapons The Diplomatic Representative of the Government of Nicolás Maduro, in the exercise of the presidency of the Conference on Disarmament, delivered a speech in which he expressed that Venezuela is committed to promoting general, complete and non-discriminatory disarmament, based on strict international control as guarantees for international peace and security. Ambassador Jorge Valero advocated a world free of nuclear weapons. He said that this is “an aspiration shared by countries that want to avoid the catastrophic consequences of any use of these weapons”. He stated that the purposes that gave rise to the Conference on Disarmament will only be achieved through the signing of legally binding and universally shared commitments to achieve the total elimination of these terrifying weapons. The Venezuelan diplomat proposed to begin negotiating a Treaty on the prohibition of fissile material, which prevents the production of nuclear weapons and destroys existing ones. Venezuela reaffirmed before the Conference on Disarmament its commitment to the objectives of non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament, as fundamental elements to contribute to the strengthening of international peace and security. He also expressed his support for multilateralism as a basic principle of the negotiations that must be carried out in this area. The Venezuelan representative said that the prohibition and total elimination of nuclear weapons is the only guarantee against the use or dissuasive threat of use, which constitutes a violation of the Charter of the United Nations. Its use would be a war crime and a violation of International Law and International Humanitarian Law. Let us imagine – said Ambassador Jorge Valero – the catastrophic human and environmental consequences – particularly for the peoples of developing countries – of the potential use of nuclear weapons. This is the most serious threat to humanity that threatens the survival of civilization. “It is regrettable that nuclear deterrence continues to be the basis of military doctrines of defense and security of some States and that, even, nuclear weapons can be used against states that do not possess them”, the Bolivarian spokesman emphasized. Jorge Valero added that the doctrine of nuclear deterrence is toxic and lethal. It is alarming the deployment of nuclear weapons of the possessing States in the territory of States that do not possess them, through regional defense agreements and treaties, making even non-nuclear States should be protected in the doctrines promoted by the Nuclear States. Venezuela called on the nuclear powers to ratify the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and to move towards the elimination of these weapons in a multilateral, simultaneous and non-discriminatory manner. My country considers that the nuclear risk lies precisely in the existence of nuclear weapons, stressed Jorge Valero. The risk of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by non-state actors has increased considerably with the evolution of the nature of terrorism, and has worsened – even more – with the rapid developments in science, technology and international trade that have altered the traditional modes of proliferation. Although we acknowledge – ambassador Jorge Valero said – the willingness of some countries to reduce their military spending it is alarming that, at present, great powers allocate enormous financial resources to expand their nuclear forces, instead of dedicating them to the reduction of poverty to world level, to the social development of nations, and to development aid to meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).