Pressenza Pressenza International Press Agency Madrid, 4/12/09 In Prague, Obama presented his vision of a world free of nuclear weapons, at the same time as he was accompanying his speech with a series of specific proposals to reach this goal, such as the reduction of current arsenals, updating the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and new controls to avoid terrorist groups gaining access to nuclear weapons. He said: “The basic bargain is sound: countries with nuclear weapons will move toward disarmament, countries without nuclear weapons will not acquire them; and all countries can access peaceful nuclear energy.” However, Obama did not define, in this same speech, whether he would definitively renounce the installation of the antimissile shield planned for the Czech Republic and Poland. This demand has been demanded in the Czech Republic with a strong popular campaign led by the Nonviolent Movement against the Bases “Europe for Peace”.

That these declarations may be accompanied by an agreement reached with the Russian President to ratify the reduction of strategic weapons has revived hopes for the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons.

We congratulate the courage of Obama to take the initiative of nuclear disarmament. Obama has initiated a path of dialogue and nuclear disarmament of historic transcendence, that continues the process started by Gorbachev in the 80s.

In this direction, SIPRI (Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) is contributing positive recent experiences in matters of denuclearised countries. Such as the case of countries who previously possessed nuclear weapons like South Africa and the ex-Soviet states of Belarus, Kazakhstan and the Ukraine. The fact that these States were denuclearised by virtue of a programme of secure disarmament and with guarantees, constitutes a valiant lesson.

To set in motion a gradual process of nuclear disarmament, that shows us the path to follow is very much needed, supplying us at the same time with the opportunity to strengthen non-proliferation mechanisms and to establish a new system of world security without nuclear weapons.

With this proposal Obama has taken a direction that points towards reduction of tension, but for this to be strengthened other measures will be necessary like the withdrawal of troops that today invade foreign territories, progressive and proportional disarmament and other steps that can really carry us to a new world. We know that this implies negotiating around great difficulties, but this is a moment of open possibilities and, today, the voice of the people can be heard and converted into the best support for change.

Nuclear disarmament and the other points constitute the proposal of the World March for Peace and Nonviolence http://theworldmarch.org in order to enter a new stage in relations between countries, a new stage in human history.