Mexico
resigns from Americas defense treaty,
calling it Cold War relic
The Associated
Press
September 6, 2002
MEXICO CITY (AP) -- Mexicosaid
Friday it is withdrawing from a a treaty
designed to protect the Americas against
communism, a year after President Vicente
Fox called the agreement obsolete
Mexico joined the
Inter-American Reciprocal Defense Treaty
when it was established in 1947.
The U.S. government
said it was disappointed by Mexico's
withdrawal from the agreement, known as
the Rio Treaty. The Organization of
American States is coordinator of the
treaty.
"President Fox
has pointed out the necessity of creating
a modern and multidimensional (security)
structure that would meet the needs of
the Americas," the Foreign Relations
Department said in a statement. "The
pact, created after the Second World War,
had been made obsolete by a global system
in which vulnerability is no longer
strictly a matter of ideological or
military threats."
Fox's administration
wants a security pact that would take
into account other threats, including
natural disasters, public health
problems, poverty, terrorism and
organized crime.
The treaty is
similar to the treaty that organized the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization; both
state that an attack on one treaty member
is considered an attack on all.
But Fox has noted
that the Rio treaty was never invoked
during the 1982 Falkland Islandswar
between Argentina and Great Britain, and
no member came to Argentina's aid.
In Washington, State
Department spokesman Charles Barclay said
the United Stateswas disappointed by Mexico's
decision, though he said "bilateral
cooperation with Mexico in the areas of
defense and security continues to be
excellent."
"We believe
that the treaty remains a vital tool in
ensuring hemispheric security," he
said, noting that several governments
invoked the treaty's "collective
security provisions in response to the
events of Sept. 11 last year."
Barclay said the U.S.
government would "work with Mexico
and others to strengthen hemispheric
security arrangements across the
board."
Of the 34 active
members of the Organization of American
States, 23 have ratified the Rio Treaty.
Many Caribbean countries have not.
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On the Net:
Background on Rio
Treaty: http://usinfo.state.gov/topical/pol/terror/01092019.htm
OAS: http://www.oas.org
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