“The Treaty of Tlatelolco shows the world that it is possible to transform situations of potential paralyzing fear (such as the Cuban Missile Crisis) into opportunities where governments and peoples can create zones of safety where life can flourish.”

On Valentine’s Day this year, 14 February 2007, thirty-three countries of Latin America and the Caribbean celebrated the 40th Anniversary of the world’s first nuclear weapons free zone. At the party celebrating the 40th Anniversary Year of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, the Atomic Mirror launched “Valentines to Tlatelolco: The Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Path to a Nuclear Free World.”

This year-long campaign will promote awareness of the successful and positive contribution of nuclear weapons free zones to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. It will form the heart of a global initiative to explore how nuclear weapons free zones can contribute to the fulfillment of a nuclear free world. We will encourage the expansion and development of new zones, both locally and globally.

We invite people around the world, and especially artists, writers, musicians, to send Valentine Thank You cards to the countries of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. We aim for 40,000 valentines to be delivered by 14 February next year in 2008: 1,000 valentines for each of the forty years of the treaty. We are asking artists because we are inspired by Latin America’s wonderful tradition of sending artists out into the world as its ambassadors. Ambassador Edmundo Vargas Carreno has told us that he is awaiting the valentines….

To send your Valentine to Tlatelolco, in Spanish or English, please visit http://www.atomicmirror.org/valentines.htm

At the celebration, Monika Szymurska presented the following remarks on behalf of the Atomic Mirror:

Treaty of Tlatelolco – A Valentine to the World! 14 February 2007 Mexico City, Mexico

Congratulatory Remarks by Monika Szymurska Speaking on behalf of the Atomic Mirror on the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of the Treaty of Tlatelolco

Mr. Secretary-General, distinguished delegates and invited guests,

Gratulacje i pozdrowienia z Polski, congratulations and greetings from Poland, where I was born, and where also the idea for nuclear weapons free zones was born. In 1957, at the United Nations, Polish Foreign Minister Adam Rapacki proposed a nuclear-weapons-free zone in Central Europe. At the time, the Cold War did not allow the seed to take root in Europe. Instead, the seed flew across the Atlantic, where it sprouted and flourished, as we celebrate here today.

Thank you to the Mexican government for your hospitality, and especially to Minster Andrea Garcia Guerra and her staff. Thank you to OPANAL for all of your work for the past 40 years. Thank you for inviting us to join the festivities honoring the day this
transformative idea took root in the soil of our Western Hemisphere. The Treaty of Tlatelolco shows the world that it is possible to transform situations of potential paralyzing fear (such as the Cuban Missile Crisis) into opportunities where governments and peoples can create zones of safety where life can flourish.

The Atomic Mirror delegation has come to Mexico City to honor this day when the vision of a nuclear weapons free zone became reality. On Wednesday, 14 February 1967, your countries [of Latin America and the Caribbean] gave our planet a magnificent valentine: the world’s first nuclear weapons free zone. Together, you have already accomplished what the rest of the world is attempting to do: abolish nuclear weapons.

Forty years ago, the Treaty of Tlatelolco transformed our world and showed us the way to live nuclear free. You have inspired other countries and regions to do the same. Today, nuclear weapons free zones continue to transform our planet: in the Southern Hemisphere and in Central Asia, linking together countries that seek safer, more secure societies for their people.

Today is February 14, Valentine’s Day, celebrated around the world as a day of love, with gifts of chocolate, poetry, and flowers. To honor your vision and daring, we offer the following greetings and congratulations from Ventura County in Alta California:

We offer you the gift of chocolate. We give you these hearts full of chocolate because you gave chocolate to the world, and as even doctors have told us, everybody needs chocolate.

We offer you the gift of poetry in the lyrics by Uruguayan singer, Jorge Drexler. We believe him when he says:

Nada se pierde,
Todo se transforma

(Nothing is lost
Everything is transformed)

We offer you the gift of love, in the form of valentines. All over Ventura County children, adults, community groups, peace coalitions, made and signed these valentines that we bring to you.

They are just the beginning. Right now, at this party celebrating the 40th Anniversary Year of the Treaty of Tlatelolco, the Atomic Mirror launches “Valentines to Tlatelolco: The Nuclear Weapons Free Zone Path to a Nuclear Free World”. We invite people around the world, and especially artists, writers, musicians, to send Valentine Thank You cards to the countries of the Treaty of Tlatelolco. We aim for 40,000 valentines to be delivered to you by February 14 next year in 2008, 1,000 valentines for each of the forty years we celebrate today. We are asking artists because we are inspired by Latin America’s wonderful tradition of sending artists out into the world as its ambassadors.

This year-long campaign will raise awareness of the successful and positive contribution of nuclear-weapons-free zones to nuclear disarmament and non-proliferation. It will form the heart of a global initiative to explore how nuclear weapons free zones can contribute to the fulfillment of a nuclear weapons free world. We will encourage the expansion and development of new zones, both locally and globally.

Today, we present these gifts as tokens of our promise of partnership in the creation of a nuclear free world. We offer you the partnership of the over 2,000 civil society groups in the Abolition 2000 network. We need your genius, your creativity, your vision. We offer you ours in return.

It’s a custom on a birthday to make a wish. We wish for our beautiful planet to follow your example and turn the entire world into a nuclear weapons free zone. You have showed us the way. Let us begin.

¡Feliz Cumpleaños, Tratado de Tlatelolco

Atomic Mirror - Reflecting and Transforming Our Nuclear World through the Arts Since 1994