ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the debates regarding the legal and ethical issues of developing and using Lethal Autonomous Weapons Systems (LAWS) in conflicts. It argues that the Latin American (LA) position to prohibit emergent full LAWS and further regulate existing weapons with some autonomous capabilities are based on the limited evidence that such weapons would comply with the principles of jus in bello, particularly with those regulated in International Humanitarian Law. Ecuador also based this position and ethical principles regarding human rights, human dignity, and respect for the right to life. Uruguay´s lack of formal position does not distance its principles of domestic and international politics from this LA position, but instead supports it. The investigation employs formal United Nations (UN) documents regarding the debates, governmental documents, semi-structured interviews about the use of this technology and reports of the local media as sources of analysis and applies qualitative content analysis.
