On April 8 and 9, representatives of the foreign ministries of countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere will meet in Rio de Janeiro for the 9th Ministerial Meeting of the South Atlantic Zone of Peace and Cooperation (ZOPACAS).

ZOPACAS is a diplomatic mechanism established in 1986 by the United Nations to keep the region free of nuclear and other weapons of mass destruction. The Zone of Peace and Cooperation comprises Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, and 21 countries along Africa’s west coast, from Senegal to South Africa.

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As has been the case throughout its 40-year history, the country hosting the ZOPACAS ministerial meeting assumes the presidency of the mechanism for two to three years. Brazil will succeed Cape Verde.

With the risk of armed conflict reduced among the 24 countries in the region, the Brazilian Foreign Ministry aims to strengthen cooperation.

“For 40 years, United Nations member states have, by consensus, reiterated this declaration [regarding a zone free of weapons of mass destruction]. However, ZOPACAS is also a zone of peace and cooperation, and this aspect, in our view, has not developed to its full potential,” said Ambassador Carlos Márcio Bicalho Cozendey, Secretary for Multilateral Political Affairs at Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

Documents

According to the diplomat, the countries are expected to sign three documents in Rio: a convention on the marine environment; a cooperation strategy establishing three areas of action (subdivided into 14 thematic areas); and the Rio de Janeiro Declaration, which is political in nature.

Although it is a “political declaration,” Ambassador Carlos Bicalho rules out the possibility that the 30–40 paragraphs of the text currently being drafted will contain references to conflicts in the Middle East or Eastern Europe. “One should not expect statements on all current events,” he said.

The ZOPACAS ministerial meeting, however, should “reiterate and make clear that this is a peaceful region and that the countries of the region themselves are capable of and interested in maintaining it as a region of peace and security” and “prevent extra-regional powers from bringing their conflicts and problems here,” the diplomat added during a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Brasília.

President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva is expected to attend the meeting’s closing ceremony.