ON behalf of the Republic of Cuba, on October 23, 2002, the Cuban
                   Embassy in Mexico City proceeded to deposit the instrument of
                   ratification of the Treaty for the Proscription of Nuclear Weapons in
                   Latin America and the Caribbean, known as the Tlatelolco Treaty.

                   The objective of the Tlatelolco Treaty is to establish a nuclear
                   weapons-free zone in that part of the Western Hemisphere
                   encompassing the Latin American and Caribbean countries. With
                   Cuba’s ratification, the treaty comes into effect in the entire area of
                   its application, establishing it as the first inhabited region of the planet
                   completely free of nuclear weapons.

                   The treaty’s obligations include the prohibition of testing, use,
                   manufacture, production or acquisition of any nuclear weapons. Also
                   banned is the reception, storage, installation, emplacement or any
                   form of possession of such weapons.

                   Cuba signed the Tlatelolco Treaty on March 25, 1995, thus
                   expressing its political will and commitment to the application of that
                   legal instrument. That was essentially an act of solidarity with the
                   countries of Latin America and the Caribbean, despite the fact that
                   the United States, the only nuclear power in the Americas, was
                   maintaining a hostile policy towards Cuba, accentuating its economic,
                   commercial and financial blockade, reinforcing its campaign against
                   the country and has continued to maintain, against the will of the
                   Cuban people, its illegal occupation of one part of national territory.

                   At the time of ratifying the Tlatelolco Treaty, these obstacles
                   continue to be present and have even grown. However, in opposition
                   to the world superpower’s interests in making unilateralism prevail in
                   the solution to international problems, Cuba, once again, is
                   demonstrating its commitment to promoting, strengthening and
                   consolidating multilateralism and international treaties on
                   disarmament and armaments’ control.

                   The ratification of the Tlatelolco Treaty reaffirms Cuba’s adhesion to
                   and respect for the principle of nuclear non-proliferation within a
                   global context. That is, the application of measures in this arena
                   merely constitutes an intermediary step in the process towards the
                   total elimination of nuclear weapons. This step taken by Cuba
                   signifies, moreover, an important contribution to regional efforts in
                   favor of nuclear disarmament, peace and international security.

                   Ministry of Foreign Affairs