1926: The Ibero-American Convention
In 1919,
Spain and all the other ex-neutral governments in World War I had been invited
to adhere to the Paris Convention. Spain had declined to do so, partially due
to Article 34 of this Convention related to the uneven equivalency between
parties. Moreover, Spain withdrew from the League of Nations in 1926, its claim
for a permanent seat on its Council having been rejected.
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Spain – 1926 Raid Madrid-ManilaGallarza & Loriga’s
Breguet 19A2 |
Following
the growth of aviation activity in the Americas and as a result of the failure
by the USA and most Central and South American States to adhere to the Paris
Convention, Spain decided to initiate a diplomatic counteraction and invited
all Latin American and Caribbean States and Portugal to the Ibero-American
Conference to be held in Madrid in October 1926.
At the end
of a Conference, the Ibero-American Convention on Air Navigation (called Convenio
Ibero Americano de Navegación Aérea, or CIANA, also called the Madrid
Convention) was created. This convention differed from the Paris Convention
in that it differently took account of the
principle of the equal voting rights of its members (Article 34) and the right
for a Contracting State to permit the flight above its territory of an aircraft
that did not possess the nationality of a Contracting State (Article 5).
Twenty-one European and American states from Spanish and Portuguese origins
signed this Convention on 1 November 1926.
Perhaps
although political reasons encouraged Spain to cause the conclusion of this
Convention, it is significant that the Contracting States of the CIANA must
have had the conviction that they could not propose something better than the
Paris Convention. The Ibero-American Air Convention was modelled after the
Paris Convention and its wording was virtually identical in most of the
articles; only the offensive articles of the Paris Convention were
significantly amended to assure the equality of States and eliminate any
discriminatory implications concerning the States.
Ultimately,
this Convention had a limited impact because of the restricted number of
ratifications that it received; whereas 21 States attended the Madrid
Conference, only 5 States (Spain, Paraguay, the Dominican Republic, Costa Rica
and Mexico) deposited their instruments of ratification. Moreover, when the
Havana Convention emerged in 1928, it was
said that there was no longer need for a second alternative to the Paris
Convention.
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