Central American Integration System

The Central American Integration System (Spanish: Sistema de la Integración Centroamericana, or SICA) is an organization for Central American countries. It started on 1 February 1993. It began when the ODECA countries (Spanish: Organización de Estados Centroamericanos) signed the Protocol of Tegucigalpa on 13 December 1991. This agreement helped countries work together for peace, political freedom, democracy and economic development. The main office of SICA is in El Salvador.

At first, SICA included Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, Nicaragua, Costa Rica and Panama. Later, Belize joined in 1998. The Dominican Republic joined SICA in 2004 and became a full member in 2013. Other countries like Mexico, Chile and Brazil joined as observers. Places such as the Republic of China, Spain, Germany, Georgia and Japan also joined as observers. SICA works with the United Nations General Assembly and has offices at UN Headquarters.

Four countries—Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua—created a group called the Central America Four or CA-4. They made it easier to cross their borders and use the same kind of passport. Later, Belize, Costa Rica, Panama and the Dominican Republic also joined this group to help their economies grow together.

History

See also: History of Central America, Puebla-Panama Plan, and Mesoamerican region

First Central American Court of Justice

In 1907, five Central American countries—Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua—met in Washington, D.C. They had help from Mexico and the United States. They agreed to create a special court called the Central American Court of Justice. The court had five judges, one from each country. It was supposed to last ten years. The court worked from Costa Rica until 1918. It closed because of problems with rules and judges being too close to their governments.

Organization of Central American States

After World War II, these countries wanted to work more closely together. In 1951, they formed a group called the Organization of Central American States (ODECA) to help each other. They changed their rules in 1952 to create a new court that would last forever. In 1960, the five countries set up a common market and a bank to help with trade and growth. But during a war between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969, work on this stopped, and ODECA stopped meeting for a while.

Revival

In 1991, the Central American Integration System (SICA) was created to help solve problems between Central American countries. It was supported by the United Nations in 1993. SICA includes seven Central American countries and the Dominican Republic. These countries work together through groups like the Central American Parliament and a bank for economic help. They also signed a treaty in 1993 to make trade easier between them.

Expulsions and rejections

Some countries asked SICA to remove Nicaragua and not allow Russia to join because of actions during the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.

Members and observers

Member states

Regional observers

• Argentina
• Bolivia
• Brazil
• Canada
• Chile
• Colombia
• Ecuador
• Haiti
• Mexico
• Peru
• United States
• Uruguay

Extra-regional observers

• Australia
• Egypt
• European Union
• France
• Georgia
• Germany
• Greece
• Holy See
• Italy
• Japan
• South Korea
• Morocco
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Order of Malta
• Qatar
• Russia
• Serbia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Taiwan
• Turkey
• United Arab Emirates
• United Kingdom

Economic integration

The Central American Bank for Economic Integration has not made a new shared currency. Some places use the US Dollar and call it the "Central American Peso." This means they use it just like the US Dollar for official things. Central America is working to help its economy grow and bring its countries closer together. Even though the countries are different, they are trying to improve trade and work together better.

Policy integration

The group wants to make air travel between countries feel like traveling within one country. They also aim to remove extra charges for phone calls in different countries. Another idea is to create a special court, linked to the Central American Court of Justice, to help with serious crimes that affect more than one country.

Headquarters

The Central American Integration System, or SICA, has its main office in San Salvador, El Salvador. This is where the group works to help Central American countries cooperate.

Institutions

Central American Parliament

Main article: Central American Parliament

The Central American Parliament, called Parlacen, began as a way to help bring peace to Central America. It started from an earlier group called the Contadora Group, which tried to solve problems in El Salvador, Guatemala, and Nicaragua in the 1980s. Even though the Contadora Group stopped in 1986, many countries still want to work together. The Esquipulas Peace Agreement decided to create a Central American Parliament with members chosen by each country. But Costa Rica did not join and is not part of Parlacen.

Central American Court of Justice

The Central American Court of Justice helps keep peace and unity among the countries in the region. The court can listen to cases between countries, between a country and a person living there, and about how countries work together. In 2005, it decided that some changes made by Nicaragua about managing important resources were not allowed. By July 2005, the court had made 70 decisions since it began in 1994.

Organizations

Here are some important groups that help Central American countries work together and support each other.

• Central American Bank for Economic Integration (Banco Centroamericano de Integración Económica, BCIE)
• Central American Common Market (CACM; Mercado Común Centroamericano, MCCA)
• Central American Court of Justice (CCJ)
• Central American Armed Forces Conference (Conferencia de las Fuerzas Armadas Centroamericanas, CFAC)
• Central American Parliament (Parlamento Centroamericano, PARLACEN)
  • Plenum
  • Board of Parliament
  • Secretariat
• President's Summit
  • Comité Consultivo (CC-SICA)
  • Council of Ministers of Foreign Affairs
  • Executive Committee (CE-SICA)
  • Vice President's Summit
  • Secretariat General (SG-SICA)
• Central American Educational and Cultural Cooperation (CECC)