ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance

Imagine you have a group of friends who all promise to help each other out if they ever have a problem. This is kind of what the inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance (also known as the Rio Treaty) is for countries in the Americas.

It's an agreement between 19 countries in North, Central, and South America to work together and support each other in case of threats to their peace and security. This means if one country is in trouble, the others will help out.

So, if there's a natural disaster like an earthquake or a hurricane, countries in the treaty will send aid and resources to the affected country. And if there's a conflict or threat of war in one of the countries, the others will work together to come up with a solution to protect everyone's security.

The treaty was first signed in 1947 and has been updated and amended over the years to include new threats like terrorism and drug trafficking. It's like a big group hug of countries helping each other out when they need it most!