ZOPACAS: history
- Montevideo
“The Brazilian Government considers that the time has come for the United Nations, in compliance with the responsibilities assigned to it by the Charter, examine the South Atlantic issue with a view to keeping the region free from tensions arising from interests outside the developing countries on both sides and ensuring that this ocean serves exclusively to strengthen solidarity among the peoples of the region” (Excerpt from the letter of Foreign Minister Abreu Sodré to UN Secretary-General Perez de Cuellar, 1986)
The South Atlantic Peace and Cooperation Zone (ZOPACAS) was formally established in 1986, through United Nations General Assembly Resolution 41/11 (UNGA), proposed by Brazil. The establishment of the South Atlantic as a “zone of peace and cooperation” reflected the fundamental concern of the South Atlantic countries in avoiding the transposition of rivalries to the South Atlantic and, in this sense, the interest of the coastal states in their demilitarization and non-nuclearization.
Since its inception, there have been eight ZOPACAS Ministerial Meetings: Rio de Janeiro (1988), Abuja (1990), Brasília (1994), Somerset West (1996), Buenos Aires (1998), Luanda (2007), Montevideo (2013) and Mindelo (2023). In Montevideo, ministers reiterated the need to strengthen ZOPACAS as a privileged forum for developing cooperation among their countries. In accordance with the Montevideo Action Plan, the following initiatives were carried out: seminar on the regular process of assessing the marine environment (Côte d’Ivoire, October 2013); I Seminar on Safety and Surveillance of Maritime Traffic and Search and Rescue of ZOPACAS (Salvador, 15-17 October 2013); and Seminar on Peace Maintenance Operations of ZOPACAS (Salvador, 3-6 November 2015).
After a ten-year hiatus without ministerial meetings, the VIII Ministerial Meeting of ZOPACAS was held in April 2023 in Mindelo, Cape Verde, when the Mindelo Plan of Action and the Mindelo Declaration were adopted. The Mindelo Declaration addresses topics on global governance; disarmament; peace and security; defense; development, including economic and financial issues; sustainable development and climate change; oceans and marine resources; and transnational crimes. The Mindelo Declaration emphasizes the need for the South Atlantic to be preserved from extraregional, political tensions and recommends a higher frequency of ZOPACAS meetings.