Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance

The Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, usually called the Rio Treaty, is a collective defence treaty among the states of the Americas, signed at Rio de Janeiro on 2 September 1947 at the Inter-American Conference for the Maintenance of Continental Peace and Security. In its first article the parties condemn war and promise not to use or threaten force in any way inconsistent with the Charter of the United Nations. Its central rule, in Article 3, treats an armed attack by any state against an American state as an attack against all of them, and each party undertakes to help meet it in the exercise of the right of individual or collective self-defence recognised by Article 51 of the Charter, until the United Nations Security Council has acted. The treaty defines a protected region in Article 4, provides for an Organ of Consultation to agree collective measures, and also sets out procedures for peaceful settlement of disputes among the parties. Article 25 makes it last indefinitely while allowing any party to denounce it on two years notice to the Pan American Union. The text was drawn up in English, French, Portuguese and Spanish, and Honduras signed with a reservation about its boundary with Nicaragua.