Under a military dictatorship, Argentina began a nuclear weapons program in the early 1980s, but this was abolished when democracy was restored in 1983.

[3] It was reportedly scrapped during the Menem administration under pressure from the United States government and due to a lack of funds in 1990.

[7] In September 1991 Argentina, together with Brazil and Chile, signed the Mendoza Declaration, which commits signatories not to use, develop, produce, acquire, stock, or transfer—directly or indirectly—chemical or biological weapons.

[11] After the Brazilian transition to democracy, Argentina and Brazil began cooperating on nuclear non-proliferation.

[11] In 1991, the National Congresses of Argentina and Brazil ratified a bilateral inspection agreement that created the Brazilian-Argentine Agency for Accounting and Control of Nuclear Materials (ABACC) to verify both countries' pledges to use nuclear energy only for peaceful purposes.