Cuba
In a statement marking the International Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons on 26 September 2023, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Cuba, Bruno Rodríguez Parrilla, noted his country’s ‘active role’ in the elaboration and negotiation of the TPNW – ‘the first international legal norm that categorically prohibits nuclear weapons in all circumstances and provides for their total elimination’. ‘We will continue to support the efforts directed towards the universalisation of the TPNW, convinced that each new State that is incorporated into the same represents a new step of advancement towards the delegitimisation of nuclear weapons,’ he said.[1]
TPNW Status
| TPNW Article 1(1) prohibitions: Compliance in 2023 | ||
|---|---|---|
| (a) | Develop, produce, manufacture, acquire | Compliant |
| Test | Compliant | |
| Possess or stockpile | Compliant | |
| (b) | Transfer | Compliant |
| (c) | Receive transfer or control | Compliant |
| (d) | Use | Compliant |
| Threaten to use | Compliant | |
| (e) | Assist, encourage or induce | Compliant |
| (f) | Seek or receive assistance | Compliant |
| (g) | Allow stationing, installation, deployment | Compliant |
| TPNW voting and participation | |
|---|---|
| UNGA resolution on TPNW (latest vote) | Voted yes (2023) |
| Participated in 2MSP (2023) | Yes |
| 1MSP delegation size (% women) | 4 (50%) |
| Adoption of TPNW (7 July 2017) | Voted yes |
| Participated in TPNW negotiations (2017) | Yes |
| Negotiation mandate (A/RES/71/258) | Voted yes |
| Other weapons of mass destruction (WMD) treaties | |
|---|---|
| Party to an NWFZ | Yes (Ratified 2002, Tlatelolco) |
| Party to the NPT | Yes (Acceded 2002) |
| Ratified the CTBT | Yes (Ratified 2021) |
| Party to the BWC | Yes (Ratified 1976) |
| Party to the CWC | Yes (Ratified 1997) |
| IAEA safeguards and fissile material | |
|---|---|
| Safeguards agreement | Yes (3 Jun 2004) |
| TPNW Art 3(2) deadline | N/A |
| Small Quantities Protocol | No |
| Additional Protocol | Yes |
| Enrichment facilities/reprocessing plants | No |
| HEU stocks | No |
| Plutonium stocks | No |
Latest developments
Cuba participated in the Second Meeting of States Parties to the TPNW (2MSP) in November and December 2023, where it expressed pride in the fact that Latin America and the Caribbean is the region with the greatest number of States parties. It described the Treaty’s adoption and entry into force as a ‘milestone’ and noted its complementarity with ‘the international architecture of security, disarmament and non-proliferation’.2
Cuba was one of the co-sponsors for the 2023 UN General Assembly resolution on the TPNW, which called upon ‘all States that have not yet done so to sign, ratify, accept, approve or accede to the Treaty at the earliest possible date’.3
Recommendations
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Cuba should continue to encourage other states to adhere to the TPNW.
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Cuba should ensure that all the TPNW obligations are implemented domestically, through legal, administrative, and other necessary measures.