LatinNews Regional Monitor: Caribbean & Central America - 15 March 2018

Central America: Spain and the Central American integration system (Sica) -which comprises Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama, and the Dominican Republic- have renewed their cooperation agreement for 2018-2021. The agreement was signed at the foreign ministry in the Dominican Republic (which currently holds the Sica pro tempore presidency) by Sica general secretary, Vinicio Cerezo (Guatemala’s former president, 1986-1991), and Spain’s foreign minister Alfonso Dastis. A Sica press release states that the objectives of the new agreement are to deepen the benefits of economic integration, improve Sica’s effectiveness and coordination, and promote a model of democratic security for Central America. The Sica statement highlights as achievements since the cooperation agreement was first signed 12 years ago, a deepening of the Central American customs union (with Honduras and Guatemala having launched a customs union last year); agreements regarding the purchase of medicines (which represents more than US$61m in savings for Sica member countries); and support for intra-regional trade which has benefited more than 600 small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs), generating more than US$3.2m in new sales.

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