Documents/Resources

Central America

·        Conference on Peaceful Coexistence in the Central American Isthmus, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic In June 1998, the Regional Operations Department and the Government of El Salvador organized, with sponsorship from the Norwegian Government, the international forum: "Civic Coexistence in the Central American Isthmus, Haiti, and the Dominican Republic." The purpose of the event was to analyze the problem of violence, its causes, and its social and economic costs; as well as to identify policies and actions to confront it.

• Once Enfoques de la Cooperación Internacional Hacia Centroamérica  “Eleven Approaches to International Cooperation in Central America” provides an analysis of the work of US and European NGOs in Central America, their sources of finance, and an assessment of the effectiveness of their projects.

·        Panama in the Year 2000 and Beyond: Non-Traditional Security Concerns By Eileen Petzold Bradley.  Presented at LASA 97.  The author argues that Panama needs to devise a program of economic development that is consistent with the protection of its environment.  He also argues that the US must play a direct role in facilitating the achievement of sustainable development in the Isthmus.

·        The End of Hegemony? Panama, the United States, and Latin America.  Security After the Year 2000 By Peter M. Sánchez.  Presented at LASA 98. This paper, presented at the 1998 LASA conference, explores the role of the US in Central America, with special emphasis in Panama.  The author claims that Panama has been instrumental for the emergence of the US as the regional hegemon in the Caribbean region.

• ALADI Documents (Latin American Free Trade Association)

• Evolución de los Acuerdos y el Comercio Entre Países Miembros de la ALADI y Países de Centro América y el Caribe (I).  “Evolution of the Agreements and Trade Between the Member Countries of ALADI and Central American and Caribbean Countries (I)” reviews trade and the formal agreements developed between ALADI and Central American countries.

• Evolución de los Acuerdos y el Comercio Entre Países Miembros de la ALADI y Países de Centro América y el Caribe (II).  “Evolution of the Agreements and Trade Between the Member Countries of ALADI and Central American and Caribbean Countries (II)”.

• Andean Community Documents.

• Negociaciones con Centroamérica y CARICOM  “Negotiations with Central American and CARICOM” reviews the negotiations conducted between the Andean Community and the CARICOM and the Central American countries.
• Negociaciones con Panamá  “Negotiations with Panama” lists and explains the negotiations conducted between the Andean Community (former Andean Pact) and Panama.

o       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.

·        La Unión Centroamericana: Condiciones y Perspectiva  “The Central American Union: Conditions and Perspectives”, written by Dr. Álvaro de la Ossa, is part of a research program on the Central American Union conducted by the Consultative Committee of the Central American Integration System.  This project will inform future integration efforts.

·        Los Estados Des-Unidos de América Central  “The Disunited States of Central America” is an analysis of the social impact of the structural reform policies implemented in Central America in the early 1990s, as part of the process of integration.

·        Relaciones Europa - Centroamérica In “Europe-Central America Relations”, Finn Hansen argues that with the end of political conflicts in Central America, European-Central American relations may cool off.  Hansen believes that the European policies toward Central America are incoherent.  On the one hand, the European countries fund cooperation programs, but on the other, their commercial policies harm Central American agricultural exports, especially banana and coffee. 

• IRELA Documents.
• European Union-Central America Relations Since the launch of the biregional San José Process in 1984, EU-Central American relations have evolved from political dialogue to include economic and trade issues. This briefing analyzes the latest trends in biregional trade and investment flows, discusses the diversification of Central America's export base, and evaluates the impact of the EU's trade preferences, market entry requirements and investment promotion programmes on EU-Central American economic relations. The briefing also evaluates the prospects of Central America's traditional and non-traditional exports, tourism industry and mauiladora production, and examines the future of the EU-Central American economic partnership against the backdrop of global trade liberalization and regional integration processes in Europe and the Americas.

• European-Latin American Relations:  Cooperation Figures
• European-Latin American Relations:  Development Assistance Statistics
• European-Latin American Relations.  External Debt      
• European-Latin American Relations:  Investment Statistics

• European-Latin American Relations:  Trade Statistics

• SIECA Documents (Secretaría de Integración Económica Centroamericana – Secretariat for Central American Economic Integration)

• Central America-China Relations Review of economic relations between the Republic of China (Taiwan) and the Central American republics.  This report also explores a project funded by the Chinese (Taiwanese) government to promote the integration efforts in Central America.

• Central American Economic Integration This document explores the integration policies advanced in the 1990s and tries to assess the damage caused by hurricane Mitch on the economies. 

• Proyecto de Apoyo a la Participación de Centroamérica en el Área de Libre Comercio de las Américas This report explores the implementation and result of the “Project of Support for the Participation of Central America in the Free Trade Area of the Americas”.  It is funded by USAID.

• SIECA’s Bulletin

• Statistical Analysis Statistics and analysis of trade between the Central American republics and the Caribbean States Association, the European Union, the Republic of China (Taiwan), and the USA.

• Trade Policies and International Negotiations (1) Negotiations conducted by the Central American republics with CARICOM, Mexico, Panama, Republic of China (Taiwan), and the USA.

• Trade Policies and International Negotiations (2) Trade relations between the Central American countries and the Andean Community, the Association of Caribbean States, the Free Trade Area of the Americas, and the World Trade Organization.

·                    U.S. Department of State: Latin America and the Caribbean Documents.

·        Central America--A New Era The Department of State argues that Central America is, contrary to most general assumptions, a very important trade partner of the US and explores the strategies of economic diversification underway in the Central American countries.

·        Hurricane Mitch.  Relief and Reconstruction in Central America: Importance to the U.S. The State Department lists the U.S. foreign policy priorities in Central America: promoting peace, building democratic institutions, achieving prosperity, and raising the quality of life.

·        Hurricanes in Central America. President's Special Coordinator for International Disaster Assistance, USAID Administrator J. Brian Atwood is coordinating a government-wide effort to provide relief and assistance to the region.  These pages describe this unprecedented humanitarian and reconstruction effort, and provide information on how you can help our neighbors in the region that have been devastated by this disaster of near biblical proportions.

·        President Clinton’s Trip to Central America: March 8-11, 1999   On the final day of his Central America trip, the President will meet with regional leaders at a Summit Meeting held at Casa Santo Domingo, a beautiful and historic complex in the colonial town of Antigua. During the Summit, President Clinton will reaffirm his commitment to continue this progress, and discuss with his Central American counterparts additional steps we can take towards reducing trade and investment barriers, promoting micro enterprise, improving environmental protection, and controlling illegal migration.

·        Secretary Albright’s Trip to Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Barbados. May 4-10, 1997 Documents related to the U.S. relations with Guatemala, Mexico, Costa Rica, and Barbados.  Links to the speeches and roundtables that took place during the trip.

·        U.S.-Foreign Policy

o       U.S.-Belize Relations

o       U.S.-Costa Rica Relations

o       U.S.-Guatemala Relations

o       U.S.-Honduras Relations

o       U.S.-El Salvador Relations

o       U.S.-Nicaragua Relations

o       U.S.-Panama Relations

General

·        Adjustments after Speculative Attacks in Latin America and Asia: A Tale of Two Regions? By Guillermo Perry and Daniel Lederman, Revised Version, April 27, 1999.  This paper analyzes the adjustment process in the aftermath of speculative attacks against the currencies of six countries: Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, South Korea, and Thailand.

·        América Latina en la Agenda de Transformaciones Estructurales de la Unión Europea “Latin America in the Agenda of Structural Transformations of the European Union” is a report by the International Trade Unit of the Division of International Trade and Development Funding of the European Union, presented at the MERCOSUR-European Union summit held in Rio de Janeiro on 28-29 June, 1999.  This document explores the role of Latin American countries as recipients of goods, services and investment from the European Union.  It also explores the EU’s strategy toward Latin American countries as well as recent changes in the EU’s system of generalized preferences for Latin American countries.  The document pays special attention to the compatibility of the agricultural and technological goods of the EU and Latin American countries.

·        Treinta Años de Integración Andina: Balance y Perspectivas “Thirty Years of Andean Integration:  Balance and Perspectives”, by Héctor Maldonado Lira, reviews the historical development of the Andean legislation.  The author argues that there is a direct correlation between the degree of production of legislation and the state of the process of integration.  He explores the results and future caveats of the process.

• World Bank Documents

o     The Euro and Latin America  This WB brief explores the risks and opportunities facing Latin America from the introduction of the Euro.