Documents/Resources

Central America

·        Central American Armies Form New Military Alliance In mid-November, armies from four northern countries in Central America--Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua--formed a new military alliance, the Conferencia de las Fuerzas Armadas de Centroamerica (CFAC).  The alliance will promote joint efforts to fight security problems that currently threaten the entire region, such as drug trafficking, while paving the way for cooperative military action in other areas when necessary, such as UN-supervised "peacekeeping operations."

• Foro de Presidentes de Poderes Legislativos de Centro America The “Forum of the Presidents of the Legislative Powers of Central America” has been created to analyze the causes that prevent the historical, sociological, and political reconstruction of Central America.  Legal experts argue that the main reason is the lack of efficiency in the mechanisms of regional cooperation.  The legislative powers propose to homologate the laws and to harmonize their mechanisms of application, to promote the development and consolidation of the “State of Law” in the region; to create an efficient mechanism for legislative integration; and to articulate the existing legislative capacity, rather than creating new bureaucracies.
  
• Negotiating Rights: The Guatemalan Peace Process Accord - An International Review of Peace Initiatives is published by Conciliation Resources (CR), a London-based service and support organisation for national or community-based peace and conflict prevention initiatives. CR seeks to provide flexible and appropriate resources - financial, human or technical - to partner organisations in Africa, the South Pacific and around the world. While the main aim of Accord is to offer accurate descriptions and cogent analysis of specific peace initiatives, it also seeks to make this information available to all those actively engaged in responding to violent conflicts. It is intended as a practical and accessible tool for 'peace building' from which comparative lessons may be drawn.

• Advocates and Guarantors: Establishing Participative Democracy in Post-War Guatemala By Tania Palencia Prado.  During the final stages of the Guatemalan peace process in 1994-96, few Guatemalans were well informed about the negotiations, while the parties themselves had little inclination to communicate developments to the rest of society.  The creation of the Civil Society Assembly (ASC) and the moderation of the United Nations helped to create an environment in which the concerns of the organized civic opposition could be aired.  However, the proposals of the social sectors that dominated the ASC often went beyond what was requested or accepted by either negotiating party.  In the event, the procedures adopted to finalize the peace accords were markedly non-consensual.

• Violent Truths: the Politics of Memory in Guatemala By Richard Wilson.  In recent years, 'truth commissions' have become standard post-war structures for publicly addressing unresolved issues arising from past human rights violations. They typically consist of an investigative team with a mandate to take testimonies, corroborate evidence, document human rights abuses and make recommendations regarding structural reforms and reparations. On one hand, truth commissions are technical, quasi-legal institutions which dispassionately document the grim facts of war. On the other, they either challenge or confirm mutilated versions of history, becoming part of an intense struggle in which all political groups engage, knowing that whoever defines the past might also control the future. Two post-war political agendas on which truth commissions necessarily impact are establishing justice and consolidating democracy. These aims are often represented as 'vengeance' versus 'reconciliation' and as such can seem incompatible. There is another argument however which states that justice and democracy are complementary and mutually reinforcing; that breaking a regime of denial and challenging impunity can only strengthen the rule of law which democratic institutions both foster and require.

·        Philosophy of Police Systems and Comparative Studies of the Role of Police Systems for the Society of Belize, Central America Report # 7 1998, produced by the Belize Development Trust.  This report argues that the police force must be      obedient to the voters in the community in which they serve. Police                          have discretion. In Belize this discretion comes from an absentee                           colonial power in Belmopan. In the USA, this control comes from the                           local, city, town, or village citizens. 

·        Region: Governments Debate Measures to Confront Rising Crime Central American governments and their critics are debating the causes of the dramatic increase in crime, while legislatures are debating laws to impose heavier prison sentences and to spend more money on police. 

·        Center for International Policy. Security in Latin America Documents.  Since its founding in 1975, the Center for International Policy has earned a reputation for hard-hitting analysis and effective advocacy on a range of issues. Staff members include former senior diplomats and intelligence officers as well as younger academics and activists. This pairing of senior-level insiders with outsiders is key to the Center's success over the years, for it gives staff access to key decision-makers in the executive and legislative branches and credibility with the media, all essential to effective advocacy in Washington. Promoting human rights has been one of the overarching themes of the Center's work. Rather than human rights monitoring, which a number of organizations do so well, the Center has tried to spotlight the causes of abuses and has advocated policies to reduce violations. Another related theme has been promoting peaceful diplomatic rather than military solutions to foreign policy conflicts in the Third World. 

o       Collective security: Central America 

§         The Central American Security Treaty Department of State, Office of the Under Secretary for Arms Control and International Security Affairs, Bureau of Arms Control.  

o       Counterarcotics: Central America 

§         International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1996: Canada, Mexico and Central America. Canda, Mexico, and Central America International Narcotics Control Strategy Report, 1996. Released by the Bureau for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, U.S. Department of State Washington, DC, March 1997. 

o       Military roles: Central America 

§         Centroamérica: Militares Buscan Identificar a sus "Nuevos Enemigos" “Central America: the Military Seeks to Identify its ‘New Enemies’ ”.  By Thelma Mejía, member of Central American Dialogue for Security and De-Militarization.  1 March, 1996. 

o       Peace processes: Central America 

§         Demobilization and Reintegration in Central America by Denise Spencer, February 1997. Denise Spencer is a political scientist currently working on issues of civil-military relations in Mexico.  She conducted the research for this paper while working for the Bonn International Center for Conversion. 

o       U.S. security assistance: Central America 

§         Central America: Current Trends and Recommendations for U.S. Policy Policy Brief.  Inter American Dialogue. By Michael Shifter  Program Director and Senior Fellow                                        Inter-American Dialogue.  (Testimony prepared for Hearing of the Subcommittee on the Western Hemisphere, House Committee on International Relations (June 25, 1997). 

§         Altered States: Post-Cold War U.S. security interests in Central America By W. Frick Curry. From Center for International Policy. 12/01/1995. 

o       Other Documents: Security in Latin America. 

§         Belize 

§         Costa Rica 

§         El Salvador 

§         Guatemala 

§         Honduras 

§         Nicaragua 

§         Panama 

·        Corte Centroamericana de Justicia (Central American Court of Justice) Documents. 

o       IX Reunión de CSJ de Centroamérica San Pedro Sula, Cortés,  Honduras 13 - 16 de Agosto de 1998 “Ninth Reunion of the Supreme Courts of Justice of Central America in San Pedro Sula, Cortés, Honduras, 13-16 August 1998”.  Official minutes. 

o        Juridical Norms  

§         Protocolo de Tegucigalpa a la Carta de la Organización de Estados Centroamericanos (ODECA) “Tegucigalpa Protocol of the Chart of ODECA –Organization of Central American States-“. 

§         Estatuto de La Corte Centroamericana de Justicia Estatus of the Central American Court of Justice. 

§         Reglamento General de La Corte Centroamericana de Justicia Regulations of the Central American Court of Justice. 

§         Acuerdo de Sede entre La Corte Centroamericana de Justicia u El Gobierno de La República de Nicaragua Headquarters Agreement between the Central American Court of Justice and the Government of hte Republic of Nicaragua. 

§         Ordenanza de Procedimientos Proceeding norms. 

§         Reglamento de Adquisiciones Acquisition norms. 

o       Publications 

§         La Unión Centroamericana: ¿Confederación, Federación o qué? “Central American Union: Confederation, Federation, or What?”, by Lorenzo Hernández García.  The author addresses the criticisms against the integration organs and provides an assessment of what Central American integration intends to be. 

§         Embestida contra la Integración Centroamericana  “Attack Against Central American Integration”, by Aldo Díaz Lacayo.  Globalization and neoliberal reforms have pushed Central American integration back in time.  Anti-Central American pressures are converging, pushed by the international financial institutions, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and the anti-integrationist, anti-Central American culture of Costa Rica, promoted through extra-subregional paradigms. 

§         Una Cumbre sin Mira ni Sueños “A Summit Without Looks nor Dreams”, by José Salomón Delgado.  The waste of money and lack of economic efficiency of the Central American integration institutions provides a disincentive for real integration. 

§         "Somos Dedos de un Mismo Puño" “We Are Fingers of the Same Fist”, by Walter Lacayo Guerra. The president of the Central American Court of Justice denounces the lack of publicity the Central American Court of Justice has among citizens.  He warns that Central American citizens should be made aware of the fact that they can appeal to the Central American Court when they believe that their individual rights are threatened by the process of integration.  This way, integration would receive a big boost. 

§         El Literal F) del Articulo 22 del Estatuto de La Corte Centroamericana “Literal F) of Article 22 of the Estatute of the Central American Court”, by AdolfoLeón Gómez.  This article contains two attributions of competence: othe first, to know the conflicts among powers, and the second, to correct the violation of judicial sentences. 

§         La Consulta Judicial en La Integración “The Judicial Consult of Integration”, by AdolfoLeón Gómez.  The Central American Court of Justice is: permanent Tribunal (based on its functioning), international Tribunal (because it can address conflicts among states), arbitration Tribunal, Tribunal for constitutional conflicts, and it may intervene in cases of violation of judicial sentences.  It may also propose projects of uniform and integration law, and it is mainly a Tribunal for consultations about the proper application and interpretation of Integration and Communitarian Law. 

§         La Corte de Managua “The Court of Managua”, by AdolfoLeón Gómez.  This article reviews the functions, history and antecedents of the Central American Court of Justice. 

o       Resolutions  

·        CRIES Documents. (Coordinadora Regional de Investigaciones Económicas y Sociales – Regional Coordinator of Economic and Social Research).  CRIES is a network of centers that conduct research on Central American and Caribbean topics.  Its main goal is to contribute to a model of equitable and sustainable social development for the countries and territories of the Great Caribbean. 

o       Orden Social y Gobernabilidad en Nicaragua 1990-1996 By Elvira Cuadra Lira, Andrés Pérez Baltodano, and Ángel Saldomando (February 1998).  “Social Order and Governability in Nicaragua 1990-1996” is an analysis of the problem of social order and security from several theoretical, historical, and institutional perspectives.  The authors argue that the problem of security is the problem of its social construction.  It is the problem of the creation and reproduction of life in society.  From this perspective, crisis endangers the viability of national societies.  The main goal of the authers is to contribute to the exploration of Nicaragua’s limitations and opportunities to develop fair and democratic structures of social order. 

o        Transición Política y Reconversión Militar en Nicaragua, 1990-1995 By Roberto J. Cajina (April 1997).  “Political Transition and Military Reform in Nicaragua, 1990-1995” is part of a larger regional project of historian Roberto J. Cajina to analyze the most relevant factors of the political transition of Nicaragua between 1990 and 1995.  The author looks at issues like the transformation of the Popular Sandinista Army (Ejército Popular Sandinista – EPS) into a national and professional army, as well as the episodes and course of the negotiations among several national and international actors, to try to secure advantageous positions in a period of undefined functions. 

o        Violencia social en Centroamérica In September 1997 CRIES organized a project called “Governability and Security” to initiate research in the field of governability, starting with the analysis of situations of domestic violence and insecurity in four Central American countries, as well as the relationship between security and democratic governability in those countries.  To achieve that goal, the project was divided into three stages:  analysis of the violence in Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Nicaragua, to identify regional trends of behavior.  This document, published in January 1999, is the result of the first stage. 

·         Fundación Arias (Arias Foundation) Documents.  The Arias Foundation for Peace and Human Progress is a non-profit organization devoted to the construction of fairer and peaceful societies in Central America. 

o        Amenazas a la Seguridad en Centroamérica: ¿Se Justifican las Respuestas Militares? “Treats to Security in Central America: Are Military Responses Justifiable?” by Arnoldo Brenes.  The post-Cold War has created a new concept of security.  The main security priority is no longer the protection of state sovereignty and territorial unity, but the protection of individual subjects. 

o        Coalición Mundial para el Control de Armas Livianas Comienza a Tomar Forma “World Coalition for Control of Light Weapons is Gaining Shape”, by Christopher Nee, Greg Puley y Carlos Walker.  This article reviews the efforts undertaken by some individuals, NGOs, and governments to restrict the trade of light weapons. 

o        Códigos de Conducta y el Comercio Legal de Armas Livianas  “Codes of Conduct and Legal Trade of Light Weapons”, by Greg Puley.  The recent adoption by the European Union of a code of conduct regarding the trade of light weapons leads the author to consider the impact that codes of conduct may have in the control of this type of trade. 

o       Diagnosis About the Juridical Framework for Non-Profit Organizations in Central America: 

·        Belize 

·        Costa Rica 

·        El Salvador 

·        Guatemala 

·        Honduras 

·        Nicaragua 

·        Panama 

o        El Comercio de Armas y los Derechos Humanos “The Trade of Weapons and Human Rights”, by Arnoldo Brenes.  Brenes argues that gun trafficking is directly or indirectly responsible for several violations of human rights.  Since it is normally very difficult for the international community to intervene in a state where human rights violations are occurring, the author recommends to fight gun smuggling and contraband as an effective way of prevention against human rights violations. 

o        La Desmilitarización Total Como un Nuevo Paradigma de Seguridad en Centroamerica “Total Demilitarization as a New Security Paradigm in Central America”, by Arnoldo Brenes.  The author reviews contemporary issues of security in Central America and concludes than rather than discussing the need to abolish armies, the debate should be about the process to guarantee the successful abolition of that institution.  He makes some policy recommendations. 

o        Recent juridical resolutions adopted by Central American governments. 

o       Code for Children and Teen-Agers (Honduras) 

o       Elimination of Compulsory Military Service 

o       General Law of the Environment and Natural Resources (Nicaragua) 

o       Design and Negotiation of an Open Agenda for Education and Human Development (Nicaragua) 

o       Review of the Plan of National Reconstruction (El Salvador) 

o       Reforms of the Law of Free Export Zones and Fiscal Areas (El Salvador) 

o       Campaign for a Law Against Home Violence (Costa Rica) 

o       Creation of a Coordinating Committee to Stop the Impact of Uncontrolled Banana Expansion (Costa Rica) 

o       Legislative Experiment to Reform the Law of the Forests (Costa Rica) 

o       Design and Execution of a National Plan for Women and Development (Panama) 

o        Project for Democracy (Belize)  

o       Other Publications 

General 

• Promised the Earth: Agrarian Reform in the Socio-Economic Agreement By Gustavo Palam Murga.  Since the colonial period, unfair land distribution and the prevailing agricultural economic system have been the prime causes of armed and civil resistance in Guatemala. Successive authoritarian governments have granted national and international business elites unrestricted privileges over communal lands expropriated from the Maya. As a consequence, the majority of Guatemalans live in abject poverty and campesino organisations have continually fought for the reinstatement of their ancestral lands. It is estimated that over 300 land disputes currently exist in 15 of Guatemala's 22 departments.  The Agreement on Socio-Economic Issues and the Agrarian Situation, while redirecting and restructuring approaches to the 'land problem', does not contain a strategic, long-term vision of Guatemala's economic, particularly rural, development. Its overly technical, market-driven proposals do not begin to address the economic injustice and inefficiency and the deep historical grievances which are the root causes of past and ongoing rural conflict.

• Reframing Citizenship: Indigenous Rights, Local Power and the Peace Process  By Rachel Sieder.  Although the civil war in Guatemala was not fought over ethnic claims for self-determination, the peace process that brought the war to an end holds the prospect of incorporating historically neglected indigenous demands into a democratic national agenda. Given that the majority of Guatemalans are indigenous, further democratisation that is responsive to the ethnic diversity of the country would radically transform Guatemalan politics and society. One agreement in particular, the Accord on the Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples (AIDPI), signed on 31 March 1995, is of primary importance. It explicitly recognises the multi-ethnic, culturally plural and multilingual nature of Guatemala and the specific, collective rights of some six million indigenous people.

• Inter-American Development Bank Documents.

• Case Management and Reform in the Administration of Justice in Latin America By Carlos G. Gregorio (August, 1996). Many of the problems of the systems of court administration in Latin America -delays, uncertainty, inaccessibility, high cost/benefit ratio- are rooted in the existing models for managing and handling cases. To improve case management and the disposition of cases, reform projects in the region have concentrated on introducing computerization in the courts. The objective of this paper is to present and discuss the most important issues related to the implementation of computerized information systems for judiciaries. Experience in Latin American countries indicates that the installation of computer equipment in most cases facilitates court administration. Though there are difficulties associated with this process --the complexity of new technologies and their technical jargon; the resistance to change; the traditional education of lawyers and judges, which does not include knowledge of other fields, such as computer science, administration, or management decision-making; and the commercial pressures surrounding computerization-- important progress has been made, and has involved a high degree of participation and commitment by judges. The changes that are still needed to resolve problems in managing and handling of cases could be generated from within the judiciary, and would not require either substantial budget increases or further legislative reforms. Bringing about these changes will require statistical information that can be analyzed jointly by judges and administrators, and compared to data from other jurisdictions. Judiciaries should take advantage of the computerization process to improve the collection, quality and use of statistical information. Judiciaries should concentrate their efforts in this area on creating management systems that process existing information so as to make it possible for judiciaries to engage in sectoral planning, in management analysis that includes the use of statistics in the decision-making process, and in forecasting.

• Institutions and Economic Development: Judicial Reform in Latin America Hugo Eyzaguirre (February 1996). The judicial system plays a fundamental role in providing the necessary conditions for the markets to work. A deficient judicial system generates high transaction costs, limits the extension of the market and the possibilities of growth, and generates discrimination in the access to the market and to benefits derived from that access. Given the abundant evidence on the poor performance of the judicial systems in Latin America, a judicial reform is imperative in these countries and can help significantly to consolidate the economic progress achieved in recent years. In this paper a framework of analysis for judicial reforms is proposed, focusing on key issues that have not received adequate attention: the demand side view of the reforms, the incentive structure of the players involved, and the political economy of the judicial reforms.

·        Organization of American States –OAS- Documents.  More than fifty years ago - on April 30, 1948 - 21 countries of the hemisphere met in Bogotá, Colombia, to adopt the Charter of the Organization of American States (OAS), which affirmed their commitment to common goals and respect for each nation’s sovereignty. Since then, the OAS has expanded to include the nations of the Caribbean, as well as Canada.

• American Convention on Human Rights

• Juridical Information

• Juridical Matters

• Inter-American Legal Agenda

• Public Safety