Montevideo Convention facts for kids
The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States is an important treaty. It was signed in Montevideo, Uruguay, on December 26, 1933. This meeting was called the Seventh International Conference of American States.
At this conference, United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull announced the "Good Neighbor policy". This policy meant the U.S. would not use its military to interfere in the affairs of other American countries. President Roosevelt wanted to change the idea of "American imperialism" (where the U.S. seemed to control other nations). This idea had largely come from policies of his predecessor, President Herbert Hoover.
The convention was signed by 19 countries. Three of these countries (Brazil, Peru, and the United States) signed with some small disagreements or "reservations." Today, the ideas in this treaty are a key part of international law, which is like a set of rules for how countries interact.
Contents
What is the Montevideo Convention About?
The Montevideo Convention explains what a country (or "state") is and what rights and duties it has. The most famous part is Article 1. It lists four main things a place needs to be considered a state in international law. These are often seen as the standard rules:
- (a) A permanent population (people living there all the time);
- (b) A defined territory (clear borders);
- (c) A government (someone in charge); and
- (d) The ability to have relationships with other states.
Do Other Countries Need to Agree?
Article 3 of the convention says that a state's political existence does not depend on other states recognizing it. This idea is called the declarative theory of statehood. It means a state exists if it meets the four rules, even if other countries haven't officially said "yes, you're a state."
Some people wonder if these four rules are enough. For example, places like the Republic of China (Taiwan), Somaliland, or even very small, unrecognized places like the Principality of Sealand might claim to be full states based on these rules.
There's another idea called the constitutive theory of statehood. This idea says that a state only truly exists if other states recognize it. This is different from the Estrada doctrine, which is about how a country decides whether to recognize new governments, not new states.
Some people have tried to make the definition of statehood wider. For example, the founders of non-territorial micronations (very small, self-proclaimed entities) sometimes argue that the rule about needing a "defined territory" is unfair. However, these broader ideas have less support. Some non-territorial groups, like the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, are recognized in international law, but they don't try to be actual states.
Who Agreed to This Convention?
The countries that signed this agreement were: Honduras, United States of America, El Salvador, Dominican Republic, Haiti, Argentina, Venezuela, Uruguay, Paraguay, Mexico, Panama, Guatemala, Brazil, Ecuador, Nicaragua, Colombia, Chile, Peru, and Cuba.
The Montevideo Convention didn't create new rules. Instead, it wrote down rules that already existed in international law. Because of this, its ideas apply to all countries, not just the ones that signed it.
How Countries Define States Today
The European Union (EU) uses a similar definition for a state. Its Badinter Committee said that a state needs a territory, a population, and a government. The committee also agreed that whether a state exists is a fact, and that other countries recognizing it is just a statement, not something that makes it a state.
Switzerland, which is not part of the European Union, follows the same idea. It states that a political unit doesn't need to be recognized to become a state, and a state doesn't have to recognize another one. Also, recognition alone isn't enough to create a state, and not being recognized doesn't make a state disappear.
Related pages
- Sovereignty
- Dollar diplomacy
See also
In Spanish: Convención de Montevideo para niños
