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Nicaragua Relations with Central American Countries
The elections in Nicaragua and the end of the Contra
war, all
achieved as part of the ongoing Central American peace
process
that began in 1983, raised hopes that Central Americans
could
turn to other issues of concern in the region. The
Chamorro
government maintained that it favored political and
economic
integration in Central America. In June 1990, President
Chamorro
joined the four other Central American presidents in a
summit
meeting in Antigua, Guatemala, part of an ongoing series
of
presidential summits that had taken place since the
Esquipulas II
agreement of August 1987. The five presidents announced on
June
17, 1990, that they had agreed to a plan for regional
cooperation
in trade, financing, investment, and production. The plan
included the revival of the Central American Common Market
(CACM-
-see Appendix B) through a revision of tariff and
nontariff
barriers to trade.
Central America sought to increase trade as an
important step
to economic recovery and long-term growth, both through
broad and
steady access to the United States market and through
increasing
trade within the Central American region. As mandated by
the 1987
Esquipulas II accords, Central Americans took steps to
advance
integration efforts among themselves. Various efforts to
bring
all the countries together have resulted in some
liberalization
of trade. Nicaragua participated in the first step in
January
1991, when in a two-day meeting in Tuxtla, Mexico, the
presidents
of the five Central American countries signed an agreement
outlining free-trade arrangements that would be phased in
by
December 31, 1996. This trade integration would start with
each
country bilaterally negotiating agreements by economic
sector
with Mexico. Subsequently, however, Nicaragua did not move
with
the same speed as other Central American countries toward
regional economic integration; its delay was attributed to
domestic economic conditions. Nicaragua also lagged on a
regional
political measure, namely, participation in the Central
American
Parliament. In a September 1991 meeting in San Salvador,
the
presidents of Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras decided
to
hold an inaugural session of the parliament the following
month.
Nicaragua, however, had not yet held elections for the
twenty
delegates each country would send to the body; this delay
was
attributed to the cost of holding special elections and to
domestic political reasons. The three participating
countries
gave Nicaragua, Costa Rica (which had not yet ratified the
treaty), and Panama (which had expressed interest in
joining
regional integration measures) thirty-six months to take
the
steps necessary to participate. After finally holding
elections
for its delegates, the Central American Parliament, with
delegates from Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and
Nicaragua in
attendance, had its first meeting in Esquipulas, Guatemala
in
1993.
Data as of December 1993
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