No. 22-23 (1992): Regional Integration on the Move

The rupture of Central American integration in 1969, as a result of the crisis generated by the commercial bias and the concentration of investment in a few countries of the pact, which broke out with the Honduras-El Salvador war, caused a terrible disconcert in Central America and stimulated the dissonant theses with integration, Then the prevailing circumstances in the eighties, of economic, social and political crisis, deepened that vision, as it seemed that the prevailing trend would be the extreme atomization of the Central American countries.

In May 1986, the Central American Presidents met in Esquipulas, Guatemala, in a historic meeting called "Esquipulas I" to discuss regional problems related to the pacification process, democratization and economic development.

It was after the Esquipulas Summit that interest in integration began to take shape again. Since then, it appeared as an agenda item in almost all the Presidential Meetings and the debate began in various opinion forums.

At first, implementation and democratization occupied a privileged place in the Presidential Meetings; however, as détente was achieved, regional integration became more and more important, until it finally became the main focus of discussions and agreements.

Precisely, as of the Seventh Meeting, held in Montelimar, Nicaragua, in April 1990, they agreed to resume for the next Meeting; a) the restoration, strengthening and reactivation of regional economic integration b) the evolution towards an integrated productive system at a regional level.

In the "Declaration of Antigua", in June 1990, it is contemplated to "restore and strengthen the process of integration and the organizations, with the aspiration of forming the Economic Community of the Isthmus". It was at this meeting that the creation of the Central American Economic Action Plan (PAECA) was approved to fulfill the commitments of economic and social development. The new concept perceives integration as one of the strategies to expand the regional market and join efforts to negotiate a better insertion in the international market.

The integration project took shape when the "Tegucigalpa Protocol" (December 1991) contemplated the creation of the Central American Integration System (SICA), which will be the key structure for the new regional integration. This scheme was finally approved at the Panama Summit Meeting, held in December 1992. In this framework, Central America is defined as an integrating community and SICA, as such, will be the legal and institutional framework for the new integration. It is hoped, based on this new concept, to achieve an environment of peace, freedom, democracy and development in these countries.

It goes without saying that the new approach to integration is a challenge for the new political, economic and social leaders; and whatever the future outcome, it will be part of the history of Central America. This is why we believe that the new Central American integration represents a real challenge.