In 2014, the South American Country
Proposes the End of All Nuclear Weapons
Proposes the End of All Nuclear Weapons
Michel Temer
Michel Temer (photo), an experienced legal scholar
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A September 2016 Editorial Note:
The following text transcribes a speech made by
Michel Temer during the Third Nuclear Security
Summit, in the Netherlands, March 2014.[1] At the
time Mr. Temer was the vice-president of Brazil.
According to
Temer, “the most effective way to
reduce the risk
that non-state actors make use of nuclear
explosives or
their materials is the total elimination of all
nuclear arsenals.
This measure must be an essential
component of any
effective nuclear security strategy.”
The view is shared
by a number of governments and
millions of citizens
around the world. Michel Temer is a legal
scholar and a long-standing
politician and statesman. As a
Constitutionalist,
he has several books published on Law and
Legal Consciousness.
Brazil is the fifth-largest country of
the world by both
area and population and has 205 million
inhabitants.
Decades ago, it voluntarily renounced the idea of
developing nuclear
weapons. Mexico, Argentina and Brazil play
a central role in
keeping Latin America free from such a nightmare.
(Carlos Cardoso
Aveline)
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“A world that accepts nuclear
weapons will always be insecure. It is
essential to eliminate such weapons…”
(Michel Temer)
Prime Minister Mark
Rutte,
Excellencies,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It gives me great satisfaction to be here in the
Kingdom of the Netherlands to address this Nuclear Security Summit on behalf of
the Brazilian Government and the Brazilian people.
Nuclear security is essential to the use of atomic
energy for peaceful purposes. Brazil has robust, effective and adequate
legislation in the areas of nuclear security and terrorism prevention. All of
the rules regarding the physical protection of sensitive items, materials and equipment
contained in the various agreements and regimes in which we are party have been
incorporated into the national legal system. Brazil has participated in the
Nuclear Security Summit process in the understanding that it brings greater
international attention to the various dimensions of this problem and can
contribute to its discussion within the International Atomic Energy Agency, the
multilateral institution of universal scope with competence and experience on
this subject.
The international community must be permanently
committed to minimizing and eliminating risks and threats arising from any
possible destructive use of nuclear energy, no matter if it is by a state or
non-state actor.
Brazil fully and actively shares the concern with the
fight against terrorism. This is, in fact, one of the ten constitutional
principles governing our international relations. This concern is also embedded
into our broader vision of a world free of nuclear weapons and all other
weapons of mass destruction.
We must not forget that it is not civilian nuclear
facilities, but atomic bombs that pose the greatest risk to humanity. Today, as
we know, all stockpiles of nuclear material for military use are exempt of
multilateral control mechanisms. The most effective way to reduce the risk that
non-state actors make use of nuclear explosives or their materials is the total
elimination of all nuclear arsenals. This measure must be an essential
component of any effective nuclear security strategy.
The Brazilian Federal Constitution states that all
nuclear activity within national territory shall only be admitted for peaceful
purposes. Brazil is a Party to the Treaty of Tlatelolco, which established the
world's first nuclear-weapon-free zone among States. We are also bound by the
commitments of the Non-Proliferation Treaty and of the Comprehensive Nuclear
Test Ban Treaty. We defend, most of all, the launching of multilateral
negotiations on a convention banning nuclear weapons and providing for their
elimination – in a transparent, verifiable and irreversible manner - with
realistic goals and timelines.
These are, Mr. Prime Minister, Heads of Delegation,
the concerns that have led Brazil to submit, along with fourteen other
countries with a similar view, the statement titled “In larger security: a comprehensive approach to nuclear security.” [2]
We understand that it is impossible to dissociate the
quest for nuclear security from the effective implementation of disarmament
commitments established in the Treaty of Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.
A world that accepts nuclear weapons will always be insecure. It is essential
to eliminate such weapons, which, because of the catastrophic humanitarian
consequences of their use, remain a permanent threat to humanity. May the efforts
of this Summit contribute to renew our firm political commitment to such a high
and urgent purpose.
(Michel Temer)
NOTES:
[1] Transcribed from the website of the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs, Brazil:
http://www.itamaraty.gov.br/en/speeches-articles-and-interviews/vice-president-of-the-federative-republic-of-brazil-speeches/9484-nuclear-security. The link was last checked on September 9th, 2016.
[2] See the statement at the website of the Nuclear
Security Summit: http://www.nss2016.org/document-center-docs/2016/4/1/gift-basket-from-brazil.
The link was last checked on September 9th, 2016.
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