Chapter 1

In the 21st century it has become necessary to abolish war itself as an accepted means of settling international disputes, much in the same way as we have abolished slavery in the 19th century and colonialism in the 20th century. 

 

“Reaffirming further that the provisions of the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 and of this Protocol must be fully applied in all circumstances to all persons who are protected by those instruments…”

Chapter 2

 

Chapter 3

 

... the uncertain combination of human fallibility and nuclear weapons carries a high risk of a potential catastrophe. Is there a military justification to accept that risk? The answer is no.

The technological revolution applied to information technology, has been diffusing power away from governments and empowering individuals and groups to play roles in world politics — including wreaking massive destruction — that were once reserved for the governments of states...

Chapter 4

 

Chapter 5

The 20th Century will go down as the bloodiest century in all of human history. We will have lost 160 million people, killed at conflict... If we want to avoid repeting this tragedy in the 21st Century, it is high time to start...

Do not bombard Buenos Aires, we cannot defend ourselves. 
The guys in my neighbourhood hid inside the pipes, 
They spy the sky, wear hemmets, smoke crack, while listening to Clash. 

 

Chapter 6

 

Chapter 7

 

The possibility of integrating all the countries in the region to advance on the declaration “LATIN AMERICA: REGION OF CITIES FOR PEACE” is based on the search of consensus with a view to decide on a regional policy to banish war, terrorism and armed conflicts of any origin whatsoever from the continent. 

 

Chapter 7 - The Region

 

 

The possibility of integrating all the countries in the region to advance on the declaration “LATIN AMERICA: REGION OF CITIES FOR PEACE” is based on the search of consensus with a view to decide on a regional policy to banish war, terrorism and armed conflicts of any origin whatsoever from the continent. 

 

The values and common objectives over which this integration is based are the ones found in the Political Declaration of MERCOSUR, Bolivia and Chile as a Peace Zone , subscribed on 24 July , 1999, in Ushuaia, by the Presidents of Brazil, Uruguay, Paraguay, Bolivia and Argentina, who represented the governments of the six republics members of the Region. The Declaration of Ushuaia ratifies its commitment with the UN Charter and the Organization of American States (OEA) , confirms its full support to the Tlatelolco Treaty and reinforces the Mendoza Commitment for the Complete Prohibition of Chemical and Biological Weapons . By means of said Declaration, the six signatory countries declare the area limited by them as “zone of peace” and “free of mass destruction weapons”. They agree on strengthening mechanisms for consultation and cooperation in security and defense issues, on promoting its progressive articulation and cooperation for building confidence and security measures, as well as the advancement of its implementation. In addition, they agree on reinforcing and improving on instruments and mechanisms for the non-proliferation of nuclear and mass destruction weapons, on advancing towards the institution of MERCOSUR, Bolivia and Chile as a zone free of impersonal land mines and to make efforts to extend it all over the continent.

 

The declaration, reinforced by UN General Assembly Resolution in 2002 —entitled “South American Zone of Peace and Cooperation”— and included in the Rules for the MERCOSUR Citizen , conforms the basis for the future integration of the MERCOSUR members—to which Venezuela is being incorporated— and the sister nations of Bolivia and Chile to the Guernica Project.

 

However, it is worth mentioning that attempts to guarantee peace in the Region are traced back to 1985, when the then presidents of Argentina and Brazil, Raúl Alfonsín and José Sarney, decided to jointly open both countries’ nuclear programmes, as a symbol of trust, setting the bases for their integration which would pave the way for the creation of MERCOSUR. 

 

The continuation of such opening approach favoured the establishment of the Argentine-Brazilian Agency of Accounting and Control of Nuclear Material in 1991, (ABACC) a binational agency in charge of verifying the pacific use of nuclear material while ensuring Argentina, Brazil and the whole of the international community that all nuclear material of both parties is used for exclusively peaceful purposes.

 

The ABACC is the only binational safeguarding organization existing in the world. The strategic initiative, shared by Argentina and Brazil, led to the establishment of a Common System of Accounting and Control of Nuclear Material (CSAC), whose implementation has effects throughout South America and opens up the gate to establish different cooperation principles to be inserted in measures of mutual trust. 

 

Due to the innovative characteristic of its functions and the efficiency in its operations -which have never been disputed- the ABACC might be constituted into a model to be replicated during the regional process of integration to the Guernica Project, with the aim of safeguarding the “LATIN AMERICA: REGION Of CITIES FOR PEACE” declaration, and guaranteeing non-proliferation of war weapons into the Region.