20 September 2001
Text: Background on Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance
("Rio Treaty" invoked following Sept. 11 attacks in U.S.) (420)
The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance states that "an
armed attack on one member is to be considered an attack on all,"
according to State Department background information distributed
September 20.
The pact, also known as the Rio Treaty, was invoked by members of the
Organization of American States (OAS) following the September 11
terrorist attacks against the United States.
Following is the text of the State Department release:
(begin text)
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
September 20, 2001
The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance
The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance ("TIAR" or "Rio
Treaty") grew out of the perceived need to provide a collective
security mechanism for the hemisphere during the run-up to the Second
World War. Although the groundwork for the treaty was laid during the
war, the treaty was not adopted until the Third Meeting of
Consultation of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs held in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil in 1947. The treaty entered into force in 1948. Since
then, it has served as one of the pillars of the collective
hemispheric defense architecture.
The Rio Treaty is a "special treaty" within the meaning of Article 29
of the OAS Charter. Among other things, it defines the measures and
procedures governing a collective response by the other states party
when a state party suffers an armed attack or an aggression that is
not an armed attack. The Treaty has been invoked on 19 occasions since
its inception, the most recent being 1982.
The Rio Treaty provides for a collective security mechanism. Under its
terms, an armed attack on one member is to be considered an attack on
all. The treaty also provides for measures to address aggressions that
are not armed attacks, as well as for extracontinental or
intracontinental conflicts, or "any other fact or situation that might
endanger the peace of America."
Not all OAS member states are parties to the Treaty. The United States
is a party to the Rio Treaty, along with Argentina, The Bahamas,
Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic,
Ecuador, El Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Mexico, Nicaragua,
Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Trinidad and Tobago, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Cuba is also a party although its present government has been
suspended from OAS participation since 1962.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Office of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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