The South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone ( abbreviations: ZPCAS or ZOPACAS; es, Zona de Paz y Cooperación del Atlántico Sur; pt, Zona de Paz e Cooperação do Atlântico Sul; also called the ''Zone of Peace and Cooperation of the South Atlantic'') was created in 1986 through resolution A/RES/41/11 of the U.N. general assembly on Brazil's initiative, with the aim of promoting cooperation and the maintenance of peace and security in the

South Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...

region. Particular attention was dedicated to the question of preventing the geographical proliferation of nuclear weapons and of reducing and eventually eliminating the military presence of countries from other regions. A Declaration on the denuclearization of the South Atlantic region was adopted at a meeting of member states held in Brasilia in September 1994. The U.N. General Assembly endorsed the initiative, albeit with opposition from the United States, United Kingdom and France.Encyclopedia of the United Nations and international agreements, Volume 1
/ref> The South Atlantic is currently a

nuclear-weapon-free zone A nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) is defined by the United Nations as an agreement that a group of states has freely established by treaty or convention that bans the development, manufacturing, control, possession, testing, stationing or transpo ...

. All member states are currently signatories of international treaties that prohibit

nuclear weapon A nuclear weapon is an explosive device that derives its destructive force from nuclear reactions, either fission (fission bomb) or a combination of fission and fusion reactions ( thermonuclear bomb), producing a nuclear explosion. Both bom ...

s, namely the

African Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Treaty The African Nuclear-Weapon-Free Zone Treaty, also known as the Treaty of Pelindaba (named after South Africa's main Nuclear Research Centre, run by The South African Nuclear Energy Corporation and was the location where South Africa's atomic bombs ...

and the

Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean The Treaty of Tlatelolco is the conventional name given to the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in Latin America and the Caribbean. It is embodied in the OPANAL (french: Agence pour l'interdiction des armes nucléaires en Amérique ...

. However, several

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North ...

islands, the British overseas territory of Saint Helena and its dependencies Ascension Island and

Tristan da Cunha Tristan da Cunha (), colloquially Tristan, is a remote group of volcanic islands in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is the most remote inhabited archipelago in the world, lying approximately from Cape Town in South Africa, from Saint Helena a ...

, and Norway's

Bouvet Island Bouvet Island ( ; or ''Bouvetøyen'') is an island claimed by Norway, and declared an uninhabited protected nature reserve. It is a subantarctic volcanic island, situated in the South Atlantic Ocean at the southern end of the Mid-Atlantic R ...

are not covered by those treaties. In addition, the

Falkland Islands The Falkland Islands (; es, Islas Malvinas, link=no ) is an archipelago in the South Atlantic Ocean on the Patagonian Shelf. The principal islands are about east of South America's southern Patagonian coast and about from Cape Dubouze ...

are not covered by these treaties as a British Overseas Territory.

Members

References

Address to the 6th Ministerial Meeting of the Zone for Peace and Cooperation in the South Atlantic (Dept. of Foreign Affairs of South Africa)

* [http://unbisnet.un.org:8080/ipac20/ipac.jsp?session=1348NR2216691.21831&profile=voting&uri=link=3100028~!2279~!3100029~!3100070&aspect=alpha&menu=search&ri=2&source=~!horizon&term=A%2FRES%2F41%2F11&index=Z791AZ Voting record on this resolution 41/11]
South African-Latin American Maritime Co-operation: Towards a South Atlantic RIM Community?
Written by Dr. Greg Mills, National Director, South African Institute of International Affairs, Johannesburg

External links

Official website of the Ministry of Foreign Relations of Brazil

Official website of the Department of Foreign Affairs of South Africa
{{Navboxes , list = {{Foreign relations of Brazil {{South-South Foreign relations of Brazil United Nations General Assembly resolutions Nuclear-weapon-free zones 1986 in the United Nations Organizations established in 1986 International organisations based in Brazil

Members

See also

References

External links