Shortly after returning from his state tour abroad, Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez claimed that Russia will help the South American country develop a nuclear energy program. “We certainly are interested in developing nuclear energy, for peaceful ends of course, for medical purposes and to generate electricity” said Chavez who received an offer last week from the Kremlin to construct a nuclear reactor. According to AFP, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Angel Moratinos gave his conditional approval of Chavez’ nuclear ambitions:
"Lo importante en todo lo que es lo nuclear es estar en conformidad con la AIEA", afirmó el ministro de Asuntos Exteriores español, en una entrevista con la estatal Televisión Española (TVE)…
"Si es para utilización militar como es en el caso y las sospechas que puede tener con Irán, entonces la comunidad internacional le pide que se conforme a las peticiones del Consejo de Seguridad" de la ONU, añadió el ministro español
Translation – “What is important is that any nuclear plans are in accordance with the (International Atomic Energy Agency)” said the Foreign Affairs Minister to Spain’s TVE…
“If it’s for military use like is the case that we suspect with Iran then the international community will request that Venezuela will conform to the appropriate (UN) Security Council resolutions.
It remains to be seen whether other European countries will be as flexible with Chavez as Spain.
Image- The Moscow Times
Sources (English)- The Latin Americanist, CNN, The Telegraph, Xinhua
Sources (Spanish)- AFP
7 comments:
I didn't know that Venezuela needed the 'approval' of Spain or the EU (or anybody else) to develop nuclear energy with civilian uses, a right clearly stated by the UN. Why should they be 'inflexible'? What has Chavez done?
Pepito
Chavez is dangeoruos, look at this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VH-l7B5IuWI
Pepito -
While Venezuela doesn't require "approval" to run a nuclear energy program it does help to have international support. Venezuela runs the risk of being sanctioned by individual states or via the U.N. should other countries deem that Chavez' nuclear plans are not with peaceful means.
(Whether the above is fair or not is certainly up for debate).
Out of curiousity, which U.N. document/treaty mentions the "right" to develop nuclear energy?
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. From Wikipedia:
"The treaty recognizes the inalienable right of sovereign states to use nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, but restricts this right for NPT parties to be exercised "in conformity with Articles I and II" (the basic nonproliferation obligations that constitute the "first pillar" of the Treaty)."
From the treaty itself:
Article IV
1. Nothing in this Treaty shall be interpreted as affecting the inalienable right of all the Parties to the Treaty to develop research, production and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes without discrimination and in conformity with articles I and II of this Treaty.
2. All the Parties to the Treaty undertake to facilitate, and have the right to participate in, the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials and scientific and technological information for the peaceful uses of nuclear energy. Parties to the Treaty in a position to do so shall also cooperate in contributing alone or together with other States or international organizations to the further development of the applications of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, especially in the territories of non-nuclear-weapon States Party to the Treaty, with due consideration for the needs of the developing areas of the world.
Erwin:
other countries (you know who I'm referring to) will always deem Venezuela's nuclear plans as dangerous. That has nothing to do with the point I'm making. Your mentioning that Spain "approves" of Venezuela's nuclear bid seems to fall squarely within the 'rights' camp. Had you said "Spain 'supports' Chavez's plan", for instance, the point you're trying to make would follow more clearly. And I disagree with you about the 'up for debate' character of the situation. There's nothing wrong with any country using nuclear power for peaceful ends. It certainly wouldn't help the hypothetical case against it that those more likely to protest are those who actually have nuclear weapons and have used them before against a civilian population.
As for your 'out of curiosity' question, what anonymous said.
Pepito
Thank you anon for including the citations; they help in clarifying the matter.
Pepito-
I absolutely understand the point your making in that "there's nothing wrong with any country using nuclear power for peaceful ends." The rules appear to be clear under existing international treaties yet their interpretation is up for grabs. It may not be fair that it should be politicized by other countries and there are elements of hypocrisy involved. But that's the reality of it all and it's something the Venezuelan government should anticipate.
Anyway, thanks for your comment!
Venezuela does not have a good enough infrastructure for a Nuclear program to be viable. In any case, Hugo has much more pressing issues to be worried about before he even brings up Nuclear.
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